Waste Fuel & Iodine, Nature article

Nuclear energy has an important role in the low-carbon energy transition,

but the safety of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) management remains a public
concern. Here we investigate the interplay between waste management
strategies and their environmental impacts with a particular focus on a
highly mobile and persistent radionuclide, iodine-129 (I-129), which is the
dominant risk contributor from SNF disposal and at existing groundwater
contamination sites. The results show that the current recycling practice
releases more than 90% of I-129 in SNF into the present-day biosphere using
an isotropic dilution strategy, whereas the direct disposal of SNF in
geological repositories is likely to delay and reduce the release by 8
orders of magnitude. In addition, our data synthesis of surface water
concentrations near four nuclear facilities shows that the release-dilution
strategy results in lower concentrations than regulatory standards, while
insufficient waste isolation in the past has resulted in locally high