How does a nuclear power plant produce electricity and what happens to the waste?

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1. 1

   Nuclear power plant (Wikipedia)

   WikipediaPublished Oct 10, 2026Checked Oct 10, 2026

   “A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces electricity. As of October 2025, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that there were 416 nuclear power reactors in operation in 31 countries around the world, and 62 nuclear power reactors under construction. Most nuclear power plants use thermal reactors with enriched uranium in a once-through fuel cycle. Fuel is removed when the percentage of neutron absorbing atoms becomes so large that a chain reaction can no longer be sustained, typically three years. It is then cooled for several years in on-site spent fuel pools before being transferred to long-term storage. The spent fuel, though low in volume, is high-level radioactive waste.”

2. 2

   Nuclear power (Wikipedia)

   WikipediaPublished Oct 10, 2026Checked Oct 10, 2026

   “Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium in nuclear power plants. Nuclear decay processes are used in niche applications such as radioisotope thermoelectric generators in some space probes such as Voyager 2. Reactors producing controlled fusion power have been operated since 1958 but have yet to generate net power and are not expected to be commercially available in the near future. The first nuclear power plant was built in the 1950s. The global installed nuclear capacity grew to 100 GW in the late 1970s, and then expanded during the 1980s, reaching 300 GW by 1990. The 1979 Three Mile Island accident in the United States and the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Soviet Union resulted in increased regulation and public opposition to nuclear power plants.”

3. 3

   Geological disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel: a long-term solution for nuclear waste management.

   Environmental science and pollution research international (Sarker et al.)Published May 1, 2026Checked Oct 10, 2026

   “The need to safely manage the radioactive wastes for human health and environmental protection has been realized already long time ago and much experience in this kind has been accumulated. Safe and effective disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) and spent nuclear fuel (SNF) is a challenging problem for the nuclear industry. Since these materials remain hazardous for ages ranging from thousands to millions of years, there is a need for finding technically, scientifically, and socially advanced and also socially accepted solutions. Most feasible long-term approach is geological disposal in which waste is isolated deep underground in stable geological formations. Technical, social, and environmental aspects of geological disposal such as multi-barrier system, site selection criteria, and safety considerations are thoroughly investigated in this paper. The development of deep geological repositories (DGRs) around the world is examined with an emphasis on successful case studies and the difficulties that current projects face. Challenges and controversies and the aim of deep geological disposal are also thoroughly analyzed.”

4. 4

   Current Development of Geological Disposal Facilities: A Comprehensive Review of Corrosion and Microbially Influenced Corrosion of Nuclear Waste Canisters.

   Materials (Basel, Switzerland) (Mumford et al.)Published Sep 11, 2026Checked Oct 10, 2026

   “Reported behaviour varies markedly: carbon-steel studies have reported localised attack approaching 1 mm within 12 months, while SRB-associated copper corrosion rates of up to 9.8 μm year-1 have been measured, yet other long-term experiments show little or no detectable microbial acceleration. These contrasts indicate that microbial presence alone is not predictive of corrosion severity; temperature, redox state, groundwater chemistry, bentonite density, nutrient availability, and passive-film stability are critical controls. The distinctive contribution of this review is an integrated, material-to-material assessment linking abiotic corrosion, CMIC and EMIC mechanisms with repository-specific environmental constraints, and current GDF development. It also identifies key uncertainties arising from methodological variability and short-term laboratory testing, supporting priorities for standardised, long-term, and in situ studies.”

5. 5

   Environmental radiological impacts of the nuclear industry from mining to construction, operation, and decommissioning of a power station.

   Annals of the ICRP (Bryant & Hondros)Published Aug 30, 2026Checked Oct 10, 2026

   “The broader concern is that this downward pressure re-enforces the perception of risk at very low exposure levels and biases decision-making about the benefits of the nuclear fuel cycle. With the ongoing concerns of climate change, many countries have made a commitment to embrace low-carbon energy systems. In support of this ambition, new nuclear power has been identified as a key part of the energy mix, highlighting the need to ensure that the decision-making mechanisms at low dose and exposure levels do not constrain the global needs and that there is a balanced treatment of the radiological risk of nuclear power, taking into account the wider non-radiological hazards, environmental considerations, and societal impacts. This article explores the radiological impacts to the environment across the nuclear fuel cycle from mining to the design, construction, operation and decommissioning of new nuclear plants, and finally the management of radioactive liabilities (including spent fuel and radioactive waste). The article provides real-life examples showing how the System of Radiological Protection is applied and how its over-application leads to unsustainable outcomes.”