What do new nuclear reactors mean for waste? | MIT Technology Review

MIT Technology Review Explains: Let our writers untangle the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what’s coming next. You can read more from the series here. The way the world currently deals with nuclear waste is as creative as it is varied: Drown it in water pools, encase it in steel, bury it hundreds of meters underground.  These methods are how the nuclear industry safely manages the 10,000 metric tons of spent fuel waste that reactors produce as they churn out 10% of the world’s electricity every year. But as new nuclear designs emerge, they could introduce new wrinkles for nuclear waste management.   Most operating reactors at nuclear power plants today follow a similar basic blueprint: They’re fueled with low-enriched uranium and cooled with water, and they’re mostly gigantic, sited at central power plants. But a large menu of new reactor designs that could come online in the next few years will likely require tweaks to ensure that existing systems can handle their waste. “There’s no one answer about whether this panoply of new reactors and fuel types are going to make waste management any easier,” says Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists. A nuclear disposal playbook Nuclear waste can be roughly split into two categories: low-level waste, like contaminated protection equipment from hospitals and research centers, and high-level waste, which requires more careful handling.  The vast majority by volum...