Future fuel

In this article Dr. P.D. Toens reports on what will happen to nuclear waste when Koeberg comes on-stream. The decay of radioactive fission products is discussed. At a plant like Koeberg about 2 000 drums of low-level waste, which can be safely manhandled and stored aboveground, is produced each year. The high-level waste that will ultimately be produced and which would need careful handling, will be about 2 - 3m3 per year per 1000MW unit. The site selection programme for waste disposal of the Nuclear Development Corporation is discussed. Some of the more pertinent factors considered in site selection include: population density, mineral potential, agricultural production, climate, ecology, regional geology, geohydrological investigations and geophysical investigations