China claims to have ample storage facilities for radioactive waste

In a news conference on Wednesday, April 23, Liu Lu, director general of radiation source safety supervision, said that China has ample storage facilities for low-level and high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power generation. According to Liu, over 90% of waste generated in nuclear power plants across the country is with low-level radiation. This waste is stored for a certain period before being transported to specialized facilities for disposal. Before 2022, China had no such facilities. However, the opening of the Longhe disposal site in July 2022 has allowed the disposal of radioactive solid waste from about 100 nuclear power units across the country. Thanks to this development, Liu said China now has adequate capacity to manage the limited amount of high-level radioactive waste produced by nuclear facilities. Most of this waste is spent fuel, which can be transported to deep geological sites for permanent storage after extracting useful materials from the inactive fuel. Liu remarked that most nuclear facilities in China have less than 10 years of service. It means that they have produced a limited amount of high-level radioactive waste. Therefore, the country has enough facilities for the safe and long-term storage of such waste.