Isn’t nuclear waste hot and releasing neutrons or electrons or whatever? Why can’t we just throw nuclear waste in a chamber surrounded by water to heat it up and generate power?

Question

Isn’t nuclear waste hot and releasing neutrons or electrons or whatever? Why can’t we just throw nuclear waste in a chamber surrounded by water to heat it up and generate power?

In: Engineering

Answer 1

There’s a large gap between “radioactive enough to generate power” and “radioactive enough to give you cancer”. Most nuclear waste is stuff like containers that nuclear material was stored in, or gloves and suits used by people handling nuclear material. That stuff is in the “radioactive enough to give you cancer” range.