Definitions for "High-level radioactive waste"
1. The high-level waste from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. 2. Uranium fuel that has been used in a nuclear power reactor and is “spent” or is no longer efficient in generating power to the reactor to produce electricity. (See: low-level radioactive waste.)
High-level radioactive waste is residue left after uranium and plutonium are recovered from nuclear fuel used at nuclear power plants. It includes highly radioactive materials such as strontium, cesium and transuranic elements. The waste is extracted in liquid form and then mixed with glass to solidify it. The solid waste is then stored in a stainless steel tube that is 1.3m high and 40cm in diameter. The waste is very hot when placed in the tube, and it needs to be cooled for 30-50 years before it can be transferred to a permanent storage site several hundred meters underground. Filled tubes are being kept temporarily at a facility in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, for cooling until a permanent storage site in Japan can be found.
radioactive waste that left in a nuclear reactor after the nuclear fuel has been consumed