High-level waste

[1] It exists in two main forms: Liquid high-level waste is typically held temporarily in underground tanks pending vitrification.

HLW contains many of the fission products and transuranic elements generated in the reactor core and is the type of nuclear waste with the highest activity.

It is generally accepted that the final waste will be disposed of in a deep geological repository, and many countries have developed plans for such a site, including Finland, France, Japan, United States and Sweden.

High-level radioactive waste is stored for 10 or 20 years in spent fuel pools, and then can be put in dry cask storage facilities.

In 1997, in the 20 countries which account for most of the world's nuclear power generation, spent fuel storage capacity at the reactors was 148,000 tonnes, with 59% of this utilized.

The Hanford site represents 7-9 percent of America's high-level radioactive waste by volume. Nuclear reactors line the riverbank at the Hanford Site along the Columbia River in January 1960.
Spent fuel pool