radioactive waste


noun

the radioactive by-products from the operation of a nuclear reactor or from the reprocessing of depleted nuclear fuel.
Also called nuclear waste.

Origin of radioactive waste

First recorded in 1945–50

British Dictionary definitions for radioactive waste

radioactive waste

noun

any waste material containing radionuclides Also called: nuclear waste

Cultural definitions for radioactive waste

radioactive waste

Radioactive materials that may be left after a commercial or laboratory process has been carried out. Some is “low-level” waste, such as objects that have touched the radioactive tracers used in certain medical tests. Other waste may be “high-level,” such as the material left in a nuclear reactor after the fuel has been consumed.

notes for radioactive waste

There has been public debate over the safest means of storing the waste, which can remain dangerously radioactive for up to hundreds of thousands of years. Present practice calls for encasing the waste in metal, concrete, and ceramic containers and burying the containers deep underground in geologically stable locations.