Longest-Lived Radioactive Isotopes in Spent Fuel

Spent nuclear fuel contains various radioactive isotopes with diverse half-lives, some persisting for thousands to millions of years, posing long-term management challenges.

The top 3

  1. Top 3 Long-Lived Fission Products: Key long-lived fission products include Technetium-99 (half-life 215,000 years), Iodine-129 (half-life 15.7 million years), and Zirconium-93 (half-life 1.53 million years), which are significant for long-term waste management.
  2. Longest-Lived Actinides in Spent Fuel: Uranium-238, with a half-life of 4.5 billion years, is the most abundant and longest-lived isotope in spent nuclear fuel, along with Uranium-235 (700 million years) and Plutonium-239 (24,000 years).
  3. Top 3 Challenges for Long-Term Storage: Long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel faces challenges including ensuring geological stability, preventing human error or negligence, and safeguarding against theft or sabotage for millennia.

Sources

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