What about our nuclear waste

The expression “nuclear waste” refers to all types of waste that are more or less radioactive. This includes materials from nuclear power plants, hospitals, research centers, and universities, among others. Some other examples of nuclear waste: nuclear fuel, replaced parts from a nuclear power plant, residues from water and gas purification, tools, and protective equipment such as safety goggles, shoes, gloves, etc.

The Different Types of Radioactive Waste

They are divided into three different categories (A, B, and C), based on the radiation's lifespan (half-life) and the radiation activity of the nuclear waste.

For a better understanding

Short-lived waste: The half-life of this waste is less than 30 years. After a maximum of 300 years (or 10 half-lives), short-lived waste has decayed to such an extent that its radioactivity is close to that of natural radiation. It can then be treated as conventional waste.

Long-lived waste: The half-life of the waste is greater than 30 years.

Half-life: The time it takes for a substance to lose half of its radioactivity.

Volumes of the various categories of nuclear waste

Exactly how much nuclear waste are we talking about?

82% of our waste is low-level, and only 5% is highly radioactive. This high-level waste accounts for 97.5% of the total radioactivity in Belgian nuclear waste.

Currently, it is estimated that nuclear activity in Belgium produces, over a 100-year period, approximately:

70,000 m³ of low-level waste, or 82% of nuclear waste (e.g., shielding materials, hypodermic needles, packaging, decommissioning waste, etc.)
11,000 m³ of medium-level waste, or 13% of nuclear waste (e.g., components from nuclear power plants such as pipes and valves, filters and resins, certain types of waste from nuclear fuel production, etc.)
approximately 4,500 m³ of high-level waste, or 5% of nuclear waste (e.g., spent nuclear fuel, vitrified waste from nuclear fuel reprocessing, etc.)

These figures are, of course, subject to change depending on the role that nuclear energy will play in the future. The 4,500 m³ of high-level waste comes primarily from electricity generation.

Based on a population of 11 million Belgians and 40 years of nuclear electricity generation, this amounts to approximately 1 cl of high-level waste per Belgian per year. In other words, a person who lives to be 100 years old would have produced 3 cans of high-level waste over the course of their lifetime.