There are three types of radioactive waste categorised by their radioactivity: low, intermediate and high-level radioactive waste.
Of the radioactive waste produced in a nuclear power plant:
Australia has managed radioactive waste safely for decades. Low level radioactive waste is stored in more than 100 locations across Australia in government owned facilities such as ANSTO Lucas Heights in Sydney as well as privately owned facilities such as Tellus Sandy Ridge in WA.
In addition, Australia manages the intermediate-level radioactive waste from the reprocessing of the used fuel from our research reactors safely at Lucas Heights.
When most people think radioactive waste, they're thinking about used nuclear fuel. Typically, uranium nuclear fuel is fabricated into solid grey pellets which are held in large fuel assemblies that are inserted into a nuclear reactor. After 1-3 years in a reactor they're typically replaced.
When they leave the reactor the fuel assemblies are still solid, still grey but are highly radioactive. First, the fuel assemblies are placed in water ponds adjacent to the reactor for cooling and then can be placed in deep geological repositories, dry cask storage or recycled.
Used nuclear fuel can be recycled. After used in a reactor, the fuel retains approximately 90% of its potential energy enabling future use after reprocessing. This is how France’s used fuel and the used fuel from Australia’s research reactor is managed.
In fact, 10% of France’s power comes from used nuclear fuel materials..
Compared to other energy sources, the volume of waste created is significantly smaller than other energy sources. For example, all of the used nuclear fuel ever created could easily fit inside a stadium such as the MCG.
Compared to fossil fuels which release toxic pollutants into the air, or solar panels and wind turbines which are dumped in landfill nuclear waste is a relatively small proposition.
