radioactive waste

American  

noun

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

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radioactive waste British  

noun

1. Also called: nuclear waste.  any waste material containing radionuclides

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radioactive waste Cultural  

1. 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.

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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.

Etymology

Origin of radioactive waste

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

Fourth-generation reactors—often small and modular—are designed for efficiency, affordability, minimal long-lived radioactive waste and inherent accident safety.

From The Wall Street Journal

They’re managing this thing, selling holdings that look shaky before they turn into radioactive waste.

From MarketWatch

To address concerns about the safety of nuclear power and radioactive waste, Oregon lawmakers created the Nuclear and Thermal Energy Council.

From Salon

In China, environmental damage from years of processing rare earths has led to chemicals and radioactive waste seeping into waterways - cities and people bearing the scars of decades of poor regulation.

From BBC

The files said one incident, in August 2019, resulted in the release of "unnecessary radioactive waste" in the form of low levels of tritium, which is used in nuclear warheads.

From BBC