So the waste from a nuclear reactor is a mix of different elements and isotopes. It could be melted relatively easily (the melting point of uranium is over 1000 oC) but I dont know how much this would help. Some the radiative isotopes will decay very quickly (like thorium-234) within a few weeks but the other waste products like thorium-230 which takes 77,000 years to decay by half!
The problem is that mixing a radioactive element with a non-radioactive element wont help to remove the radioactivity, it will still give off radiation. Just now, the only thing we can do is put the waste in very very thick concrete and bury it very deep in the earth which isn’t a great long term solution.
Hi there Ayush,
Yes, it can. It is used on amour piercing munitions because it is so dense. Depleted Uranium is more than one and a half times as dense as lead. Its use is controversial because it is also a bit radioactive and thus poisonous. As such it is on the list of weapons that the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities would like to ban.
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Ayush123 commented on :
Thank you for the reply.
Daniel commented on :
Hi there Ayush,
Yes, it can. It is used on amour piercing munitions because it is so dense. Depleted Uranium is more than one and a half times as dense as lead. Its use is controversial because it is also a bit radioactive and thus poisonous. As such it is on the list of weapons that the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities would like to ban.