Beyond a million years: Robust radiation shielding for high-level waste
A recent paper focused on gamma dose rates from unshielded high-level waste over periods exceeding 1 million years and demonstrated that this waste remains hazardous essentially indefinitely. This paper presents a novel perspective by focusing on the practical requirement of shielding to protect fro...
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| Language: | English |
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Sciendo
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Nukleonika |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2478/nuka-2025-0009 |
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| author | Pescatore Claudio |
| author_facet | Pescatore Claudio |
| author_sort | Pescatore Claudio |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A recent paper focused on gamma dose rates from unshielded high-level waste over periods exceeding 1 million years and demonstrated that this waste remains hazardous essentially indefinitely. This paper presents a novel perspective by focusing on the practical requirement of shielding to protect from this hazard. Using concrete as the reference material, this paper shows that the required thicknesses stabilize to several tens of centimeters at 1 million years and must remain robust for each individual spent fuel (SF) and vitrified high-level waste (VHLW) form essentially indefinitely, including relevant fragments. These new results provide an additional perspective on an enduring hazard that has been overlooked in discussions of the choice of fuel cycle and in the design and safety analysis of geological repositories. Further research and data needs are identified. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-adc75a25e6a84b92b25a7c8e904868a2 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1508-5791 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nukleonika |
| spelling | doaj-art-adc75a25e6a84b92b25a7c8e904868a22025-08-25T06:12:03ZengSciendoNukleonika1508-57912025-08-01703879310.2478/nuka-2025-0009Beyond a million years: Robust radiation shielding for high-level wastePescatore Claudio0Research Affiliate at the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden; Former Principal Administrator of Radioactive Waste Management and Decommissioning at the OECDA recent paper focused on gamma dose rates from unshielded high-level waste over periods exceeding 1 million years and demonstrated that this waste remains hazardous essentially indefinitely. This paper presents a novel perspective by focusing on the practical requirement of shielding to protect from this hazard. Using concrete as the reference material, this paper shows that the required thicknesses stabilize to several tens of centimeters at 1 million years and must remain robust for each individual spent fuel (SF) and vitrified high-level waste (VHLW) form essentially indefinitely, including relevant fragments. These new results provide an additional perspective on an enduring hazard that has been overlooked in discussions of the choice of fuel cycle and in the design and safety analysis of geological repositories. Further research and data needs are identified.https://doi.org/10.2478/nuka-2025-0009geological disposalhigh-level wastemillion yearsnp-237radiation hazardu-238 |
| spellingShingle | Pescatore Claudio Beyond a million years: Robust radiation shielding for high-level waste Nukleonika geological disposal high-level waste million years np-237 radiation hazard u-238 |
| title | Beyond a million years: Robust radiation shielding for high-level waste |
| title_full | Beyond a million years: Robust radiation shielding for high-level waste |
| title_fullStr | Beyond a million years: Robust radiation shielding for high-level waste |
| title_full_unstemmed | Beyond a million years: Robust radiation shielding for high-level waste |
| title_short | Beyond a million years: Robust radiation shielding for high-level waste |
| title_sort | beyond a million years robust radiation shielding for high level waste |
| topic | geological disposal high-level waste million years np-237 radiation hazard u-238 |
| url | https://doi.org/10.2478/nuka-2025-0009 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pescatoreclaudio beyondamillionyearsrobustradiationshieldingforhighlevelwaste |