In 2036, when Yucca Mountain is filled to capacity, there still will be 44, 000 tons of nuclear waste stored at reactor sites, she said.

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And what if the waste produced by such a reactor was radioactive for a mere few hundred years rather than tens of thousands?

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Among other things, his team has designed a nuclear reactor that would use nuclear waste as its fuel.

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The No. 4 unit doesn't have live fuel in its reactor, but still holds waste fuel from earlier generation operations.

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Meanwhile, engineers are continuing to pump some 11, 500 tonnes of low-level radioactive seawater into the sea so the more highly contaminated water from reactor No 2 can be stored in waste buildings.

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Earlier this month ES announced it has won a major contract in China, to provide waste management systems for two of six CPR 1000 reactor units being constructed in Guangdong Province, China.

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With the blended reactor, the neutrons from fusion reactions would wedge themselves into the nuclei of this waste, making them unstable enough to split and produce heat.

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However, since the UK will most likely adopt a single reactor system for all its new nuclear power plants, there will only be one type of waste stream.

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