GEOLOGICAL DISPOSAL IN UNITED KINGDOM. Engineering Term Paper (Term Paper Sample)

GEOLOGICAL DISPOSAL IN UNITED KINGDOM
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Over a long period of time, the United Kingdom has accumulated a lot of radioactive waste from varying sources ranging from electrical power generation from nuclear power plants, the use of radioactive materials from factories and industries, refuse from medicine and research and defence-based nuclear plants [2]. The US government is fully committed to ensuring proper geological disposal for the safety of the environment and does this through community involvement for a long term plan. The main objective of this paper is to analyse the UK’s white paper on geological disposal techniques while contrasting with previous methods that were implemented by this government.
Geological disposal entails separating radioactive waste inside a substantial volume of rock to ensure that this waste never gets to the surface of the environment [1]. The waste is maintained inside numerous barriers to make sure continued protection over a thousand years to come. High-level geological waste in the UK is classified as waste in which the temperatures may rise to alarming levels due to radioactivity. This type of waste requires a unique design of disposal facilities since their effects on the environment, and human existence is lethal.
The intermediate level waste is categorized in the UK as radioactive waste having radioactivity levels that are above the upper boundaries for low-level waste and whose design of disposal does not take into consideration of the heat content [3]. These wastes arise from spent fuel reprocessing plants and general operations and maintenance from nuclear plants. The wastes comprise of solid waste items such as fuel cladding, reactor particles, and sludge that are resultant of radioactive liquid effluents.