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in Washington
Washington

Washington is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute....
, USA.]] Spent nuclear fuel, occasionally called used nuclear fuel, is nuclear fuel
Nuclear fuel

Nuclear fuel is any material that can be consumed to derive nuclear energy, by analogy to chemical fuel that is Combustioned to derive energy....
 that has been irradiated in a nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor

A nuclear reactor is a device in which nuclear chain reactions are initiated, controlled, and sustained at a steady rate, as opposed to a nuclear bomb, in which the chain reaction occurs in a fraction of a second and is uncontrolled causing an explosion....
 (usually at a nuclear power plant) to the point where it is no longer useful in sustaining a nuclear reaction
Nuclear reaction

In nuclear physics, a nuclear reaction is the process in which two atomic nucleus or subatomic particles collide to produce products different from the initial particles....
.

Nuclear reprocessing
Nuclear reprocessing

Nuclear reprocessing separates components of spent nuclear fuel such as:...
 can separate spent fuel into various combinations of reprocessed uranium
Reprocessed uranium

Reprocessed uranium is the uranium recovered from nuclear reprocessing, as done commercially in France, the UK and Japan and by nuclear weapons states' military plutonium production programs....
, plutonium
Plutonium

Plutonium is a rare transuranic radioactive chemical element. It is an actinide metal of silvery-white appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when plutonium oxide....
, minor actinides
Minor actinides

The minor actinides are the actinide elements in used nuclear fuel other than uranium and plutonium, which are termed the major actinides. The minor actinides include neptunium, americium, curium, berkelium, californium, einsteinium, and fermium....
, fission products, remnants of zirconium or steel cladding
Cladding

Cladding is the covering of one material with another. It has different meanings depending on the context....
, activation products, and the reagents or solidifiers introduced in the reprocessing itself.

Alternatively, the intact spent fuel can be disposed as radioactive waste
Radioactive waste

Radioactive wastes are waste types containing radioactive decay chemical elements that do not have a practical purpose. They are usually the products of nuclear processes, such as nuclear fission....
.






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in Washington
Washington

Washington is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute....
, USA.]] Spent nuclear fuel, occasionally called used nuclear fuel, is nuclear fuel
Nuclear fuel

Nuclear fuel is any material that can be consumed to derive nuclear energy, by analogy to chemical fuel that is Combustioned to derive energy....
 that has been irradiated in a nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor

A nuclear reactor is a device in which nuclear chain reactions are initiated, controlled, and sustained at a steady rate, as opposed to a nuclear bomb, in which the chain reaction occurs in a fraction of a second and is uncontrolled causing an explosion....
 (usually at a nuclear power plant) to the point where it is no longer useful in sustaining a nuclear reaction
Nuclear reaction

In nuclear physics, a nuclear reaction is the process in which two atomic nucleus or subatomic particles collide to produce products different from the initial particles....
.

Nuclear reprocessing
Nuclear reprocessing

Nuclear reprocessing separates components of spent nuclear fuel such as:...
 can separate spent fuel into various combinations of reprocessed uranium
Reprocessed uranium

Reprocessed uranium is the uranium recovered from nuclear reprocessing, as done commercially in France, the UK and Japan and by nuclear weapons states' military plutonium production programs....
, plutonium
Plutonium

Plutonium is a rare transuranic radioactive chemical element. It is an actinide metal of silvery-white appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when plutonium oxide....
, minor actinides
Minor actinides

The minor actinides are the actinide elements in used nuclear fuel other than uranium and plutonium, which are termed the major actinides. The minor actinides include neptunium, americium, curium, berkelium, californium, einsteinium, and fermium....
, fission products, remnants of zirconium or steel cladding
Cladding

Cladding is the covering of one material with another. It has different meanings depending on the context....
, activation products, and the reagents or solidifiers introduced in the reprocessing itself.

Alternatively, the intact spent fuel can be disposed as radioactive waste
Radioactive waste

Radioactive wastes are waste types containing radioactive decay chemical elements that do not have a practical purpose. They are usually the products of nuclear processes, such as nuclear fission....
. The United States is currently planning disposal in deep geological formations, such as Yucca Mountain
Yucca Mountain

From 1987 to 2009, Yucca Mountain Repository was the proposed United States Department of Energy deep geological repository storage facility for Spent nuclear fuel and other radioactive waste....
, where it has to be shielded and packaged to prevent its migration to mankind's immediate environment for thousands of years.

Nature of spent fuel


Large John H Radioactive Decay Characteristics of Irradiated Nuclear Fuels, January 2006.

Nanomaterial properties

Spent low enriched uranium
Enriched uranium

Enriched uranium is a kind of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 has been increased through the process of isotope separation....
 nuclear fuel is an example of a nanomaterial which existed before the term nano
Nano

nano is a SI prefix in the SI system of Units of measurements denoting a factor of 10-9. It is frequently encountered in science and electronics for prefixing units of time and length, like 30 nanoseconds , 100 nanometres or in the case of electrical capacitance, 100 nanofarads ....
 became fashionable. In the oxide fuel
Fuel

Fuel is any material that is burned or altered in order to obtain energy and to heat or to move an object. Fuel releases its energy either through a chemical reaction means, such as combustion, or nuclear means, such as nuclear fission or nuclear fusion....
 intense temperature gradients exist which cause fission products to migrate. The zirconium
Zirconium

Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. It is a lustrous, gray-white, strong transition metal that resembles titanium....
 tends to move to the centre of the fuel pellet
Pellet

Pellet are small particles typically created by compressing an original material. Specific items often termed 'pellet' include:* Pelletizing is the industrial process used to create pellets, using a pellet mill...
 where the temperature
Temperature

In physics, temperature is a physical property of a Physical system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold; something that feels hotter generally has the greater temperature....
 is highest while the lower boiling fission products move to the edge of the pellet. The pellet is likely to contain lots of small bubble
Bubble

Bubble may refer to:...
 like pores which form during use, the fission xenon
Xenon

Xenon is a chemical element represented by the chemical symbol Xe. Its atomic number is 54. A colorless, heavy, odorless noble gas, xenon occurs in the Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts....
 migrates to these voids. Some of this xenon will then decay to form caesium
Caesium

Caesium or cesium is the chemical element with the symbol Cs and atomic number 55. It is a soft, silvery-gold alkali metal with a melting point of , which makes it one of only liquid metal that are liquid at or near room temperature....
, hence many of these bubbles contain a large concentration of 137Cs.

In the case of the MOX the xenon tended to diffuse out of the plutonium rich areas of the fuel, and it was then trapped in the surrounding uranium dioxide. The neodymium
Neodymium

Neodymium is a chemical element with the symbol Nd and atomic number 60....
 tended to not be mobile.

Also metallic particles of an alloy
Alloy

An alloy is a partial or complete solid solution of one or more chemical element in a metallic matrix. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may be homogeneous in distribution depending on thermal history....
 of Mo-Tc-Ru-Pd tends to form in the fuel. Other solids form at the boundary between the uranium dioxide grains, but the majority of the fission products remain in the uranium dioxide
Uranium dioxide

Uranium dioxide or uranium oxide , also known as urania or uranic oxide, is an oxide of uranium and a black, radioactive, crystalline powder that naturally occurs in the mineral uraninite....
 as solid solution
Solid solution

A solid solution is a solid-phase solution of one or more soluble in a solvent. Such a mixture is considered a solution rather than a Chemical compound when the crystal structure of the solvent remains unchanged by addition of the solutes, and when the mixture remains in a single wiktionary:Homogeneous phase ....
s. A paper describing a method of making a nonradioactive uranium active) simulation of spent oxide fuel exists.

Fission products


  • 3% of the mass consists of fission products of 235U (also indirect products in the decay chain
    Decay chain

    In nuclear science, the decay chain refers to the radioactive decay of different discrete radioactive Decay product as a chained series of transformations....
    ), nuclear poison
    Nuclear poison

    A nuclear poison, also called a neutron poison is a substance with a large cross section in applications, such as nuclear reactors, when absorbing neutrons is an undesirable effect....
    s considered radioactive waste
    Radioactive waste

    Radioactive wastes are waste types containing radioactive decay chemical elements that do not have a practical purpose. They are usually the products of nuclear processes, such as nuclear fission....
     or separated further for various industrial and medical uses. The fission products include every element from zinc
    Zinc

    Zinc is a metallic chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a first-row transition metal of the group 12 element of the periodic table....
     through to the lanthanide
    Lanthanide

    According to the IUPAC terminology, the lanthanoid series comprises the fifteen chemical elements with atomic numbers 57 through 71, from lanthanum to lutetium....
    s, much of the fission yield is concentrated in two peaks, one in the second transition row (Zr
    Zirconium

    Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. It is a lustrous, gray-white, strong transition metal that resembles titanium....
    , Mo, Tc, Ru
    Ruthenium

    Ruthenium is a chemical element that has the symbol Ru and atomic number 44. A rare transition metal of the platinum group of the periodic table, ruthenium is found associated with platinum ores and used as a catalyst in some platinum alloys....
    , Rh
    Rhodium

    Rhodium is a chemical element that is a rare, silvery-white, hard transition metal and a member of the platinum group. Rhodium is found in platinum ores and is used in alloys with platinum and as a catalyst....
    , Pd
    Palladium

    Palladium is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal that was discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston, who named it palladium after the 2 Pallas, which in turn, was named after the epithet of the Greek mythology goddess Athena, acquired by her when she slew Athena#Pallas_Athena....
    , Ag
    Silver

    Silver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal....
    ) while the other is later in the periodic table (I
    Iodine

    Iodine , is a chemical element that has the symbol I and atomic number 53. Naturally-occurring iodine is a single isotope with 74 neutrons....
    , Xe
    Xenon

    Xenon is a chemical element represented by the chemical symbol Xe. Its atomic number is 54. A colorless, heavy, odorless noble gas, xenon occurs in the Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts....
    , Cs
    Caesium

    Caesium or cesium is the chemical element with the symbol Cs and atomic number 55. It is a soft, silvery-gold alkali metal with a melting point of , which makes it one of only liquid metal that are liquid at or near room temperature....
    , Ba
    Barium

    Barium is a chemical element. It has the symbol Ba, and atomic number 56. Barium is a soft silvery metallic alkaline earth metal. It is never found in nature in its pure form due to its reactivity with Earth's atmosphere....
    , La
    Lanthanum

    Lanthanum is a chemical element with the symbol La and atomic number 57.Lanthanum is a silvery white metallic element that belongs to group 3 of the periodic table and is a lanthanoid....
    , Ce
    Cerium

    Cerium is a chemical element with the symbol Ce and atomic number 58....
    , Nd). Many of the fission products are either non radioactive or only shortly lived radioisotopes. But a considerable number are medium to long lived radioisotopes such as 90Sr, 137Cs, 99Tc and 129I. Research has been conducted by several different countries into partitioning the rare isotopes in fission waste including the fission platinoids (Ru, Rh, Pd) and silver (Ag) as a way of offsetting the cost of reprocessing, however this is not currently being done commercially.


The fission products can modify the thermal
Thermal conductivity

In physics, thermal conductivity, , is the List of materials properties of a material that indicates its ability to conduct heat. It appears primarily in Heat conduction#Fourier's law for heat conduction....
 properties of the uranium dioxide, the lanthanide
Lanthanide

According to the IUPAC terminology, the lanthanoid series comprises the fifteen chemical elements with atomic numbers 57 through 71, from lanthanum to lutetium....
 oxides tend to lower the thermal conductivity of the fuel while the metallic nanoparticles slightly increases the thermal conductivity of the fuel.

Table of chemical data

 The chemical forms of fission products in uranium dioxide
Element Gas Metal Oxide Solid solution
Br
Bromine

Bromine , , meaning "stench " ), is a chemical element with the symbol Br and atomic number 35. A halogen element, bromine is a reddish-brown Volatility liquid at Standard conditions for temperature and pressure that is intermediate in reactivity between chlorine and iodine....
 Yes - - -
Kr
KRYPTON

KRYPTON is a frame language computer programming language."An Essential Hybrid Reasoning System: Knowledge and Symbol Level Accounts of KRYPTON", R.J. Brachman et al, Proc IJCAI-85, 1985....
 Yes - - -
Rb
Rubidium

Rubidium is a chemical element with the symbol Rb and atomic number 37. Rb is a soft, silvery-white metallic element of the alkali metal group....
 Yes - Yes -
Sr
Strontium

Strontium is a chemical element with the symbol Sr and the atomic number 38. An alkaline earth metal, strontium is a soft silver-white or yellowish metallic element that is highly reactive chemically....
 - - Yes Yes
Y
Yttrium

Yttrium is a chemical element with symbol Y and atomic number 39. It is a silvery-metallic transition metal chemically similar to the lanthanoids and has historically been classified as a rare earth element....
 - - - Yes
Zr
Zirconium

Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. It is a lustrous, gray-white, strong transition metal that resembles titanium....
 - - Yes Yes
Nb
Niobium

Niobium , or columbium , is a chemical element with symbol Nb and atomic number 41. A rare, soft, grey, ductile transition metal, niobium is found in the minerals pyrochlore and columbite....
 - - Yes -
Mo
Molybdenum

Molybdenum , is a Group 6 element chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42. It has the List of elements by melting point melting point of any element....
 - Yes Yes -
Tc
Technetium

Technetium is the lightest chemical element with no stable isotope. It is a synthetic element with the atomic number 43 and is given the symbol Tc....
 - Yes - -
Ru
Ruthenium

Ruthenium is a chemical element that has the symbol Ru and atomic number 44. A rare transition metal of the platinum group of the periodic table, ruthenium is found associated with platinum ores and used as a catalyst in some platinum alloys....
 - Yes - -
Rh
Rhodium

Rhodium is a chemical element that is a rare, silvery-white, hard transition metal and a member of the platinum group. Rhodium is found in platinum ores and is used in alloys with platinum and as a catalyst....
 - Yes - -
Pd
Palladium

Palladium is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal that was discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston, who named it palladium after the 2 Pallas, which in turn, was named after the epithet of the Greek mythology goddess Athena, acquired by her when she slew Athena#Pallas_Athena....
 - Yes - -
Ag
Silver

Silver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal....
 - Yes - -
Cd
Cadmium

Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. A relatively abundant , soft, bluish-white, transition metal, cadmium is known to cause cancer and occurs with zinc ores....
 - Yes - -
In
Indium

Indium is a chemical element with chemical symbol In and atomic number 49. This rare, soft, malleable and easily Fusible alloy Post-transition metal is chemically similar to aluminium or gallium but more closely resembles zinc ....
 - Yes - -
Sn
Tin

Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. Tin is obtained chiefly from the mineral cassiterite, where it occurs as an oxide, SnO2....
 - Yes - -
Sb
Antimony

Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb and atomic number 51. A metalloid, antimony has four allotropy forms. The stable form of antimony is a blue-white metalloid....
 - Yes - -
Te
Tellurium

Tellurium is a chemical element that has the symbol Te and atomic number 52. A brittle silver-white metalloid which looks like tin, tellurium is chemically related to selenium and sulfur....
 Yes Yes Yes Yes
I
Iodine

Iodine , is a chemical element that has the symbol I and atomic number 53. Naturally-occurring iodine is a single isotope with 74 neutrons....
 Yes - - -
Xe
Xenon

Xenon is a chemical element represented by the chemical symbol Xe. Its atomic number is 54. A colorless, heavy, odorless noble gas, xenon occurs in the Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts....
 Yes - - -
Cs
Caesium

Caesium or cesium is the chemical element with the symbol Cs and atomic number 55. It is a soft, silvery-gold alkali metal with a melting point of , which makes it one of only liquid metal that are liquid at or near room temperature....
 Yes - Yes -
Ba
Barium

Barium is a chemical element. It has the symbol Ba, and atomic number 56. Barium is a soft silvery metallic alkaline earth metal. It is never found in nature in its pure form due to its reactivity with Earth's atmosphere....
 - - Yes Yes
La
Lanthanum

Lanthanum is a chemical element with the symbol La and atomic number 57.Lanthanum is a silvery white metallic element that belongs to group 3 of the periodic table and is a lanthanoid....
 - - - Yes
Ce
Cerium

Cerium is a chemical element with the symbol Ce and atomic number 58....
 - - - Yes
Pr
Praseodymium

Praseodymium is a chemical element that has the symbol Pr and atomic number 59....
 - - - Yes
Nd
Neodymium

Neodymium is a chemical element with the symbol Nd and atomic number 60....
 - - - Yes
Pm
Praseodymium

Praseodymium is a chemical element that has the symbol Pr and atomic number 59....
 - - - Yes
Sm
Samarium

Samarium is a chemical element with the symbol Sm and atomic number 62....
 - - - Yes
Eu
Europium

Europium is a chemical element with the symbol Eu and atomic number 63. It was named after the continent Europe.Characteristics ...
 - - - Yes


Plutonium


  • About 1% of the mass is 239Pu and 240Pu resulting from conversion of 238U, which may either be considered a useful byproduct, or as dangerous and inconvenient waste. One of the main concerns regarding nuclear proliferation
    Nuclear proliferation

    Nuclear proliferation is a term now used to describe the spread of nuclear weapons, fissile material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information, to nations which are not recognized as "nuclear weapon States" by the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also known as the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty or NPT....
     is to prevent this plutonium from being used by states, other than those already established as nuclear weapons states, to produce nuclear weapons. If the reactor has been used normally, the plutonium is reactor-grade, not weapons-grade: it contains much 240Pu and less than 80% 239Pu, which makes it less suitable, but not impossible, to use in a weapon. If the irradiation period has been short then the plutonium is weapon-grade (more than 80%, up to 93%).


Uranium


  • 96% of the mass is the remaining uranium: most of the original 238U and a little 235U. Usually 235U would be less than 0.83% of the mass along with 0.4% 236U.


Reprocessed uranium
Reprocessed uranium

Reprocessed uranium is the uranium recovered from nuclear reprocessing, as done commercially in France, the UK and Japan and by nuclear weapons states' military plutonium production programs....
 will contain 236U
Uranium-236

Uranium-236 is an Isotopes of uranium that is neither fissile with thermal neutrons, nor very good fertile material, but is generally considered a nuisance and long-lived radioactive waste....
 which is not found in nature; this is one isotope which can be used as a fingerprint
Fingerprint

A fingerprint is an impression of the friction ridges of all part of the finger. A friction ridge is a raised portion of the epidermis on the palmar or digits or plantar skin, consisting of one or more connected ridge units of friction ridge skin....
 for spent reactor fuel.

Minor actinides


  • Traces of the minor actinides
    Minor actinides

    The minor actinides are the actinide elements in used nuclear fuel other than uranium and plutonium, which are termed the major actinides. The minor actinides include neptunium, americium, curium, berkelium, californium, einsteinium, and fermium....
     are present in spent reactor fuel. These are actinides other than uranium and plutonium. These include neptunium
    Neptunium

    Neptunium is a chemical element with the symbol Np and atomic number 93. A radioactivity metallic element, neptunium is the first transuranic element and belongs to the actinide series....
    , americium
    Americium

    Americium is a synthetic element that has the symbol Am and atomic number 95. A radioactive decay metallic element, americium is an actinide that was obtained in 1944 by Glenn T....
     and curium
    Curium

    Curium is a synthetic element with the symbol Cm and atomic number 96. A Radioactive decay metallic transuranic element of the actinide series, curium is produced by bombarding plutonium with alpha particles and was named for Maria Sklodowska-Curie and her husband Pierre Curie....
    . The amount formed depends greatly upon the nature of the fuel used and the conditions under which it was used. For instance, the use of MOX fuel (239Pu in a 238U matrix) is likely to lead to the production of more 241Am and heavier nuclides than a uranium/thorium based fuel (233U in a 232Th matrix).


For natural uranium
Natural uranium

Natural uranium refers to refined uranium with the same isotopic ratio as found in nature. It contains 0.7 % uranium-235, 99.3 % uranium-238, and a trace of uranium-234 by weight....
 fuel: Fissile component starts at 0.71% 235U concentration in natural uranium). At discharge, total fissile component is still 0.50% (0.23% 235U, 0.27% fissile 239Pu, 241Pu) Fuel is discharged not because fissile material is fully used-up, but because the neutron-absorbing fission product
Fission product

Fission products are the atomic fragments left after a large nucleus Nuclear fission. Typically, a large nucleus like Uranium fissions by splitting into two smaller nuclei, along with a few neutrons and a large release of energy in the form of heat , gamma rays and neutrinos....
s have built up and the fuel becomes significantly less able to sustain a nuclear reaction.

Some natural uranium fuels use chemically active cladding, such as Magnox
Magnox

Magnox is a now obsolete type of nuclear reactor which was designed and is still in use in the United Kingdom, and was exported to other countries, both as a power plant, and, when operated accordingly, as a producer of plutonium for nuclear weapons....
, and need to be reprocessed because long-term storage and disposal is difficult.

For highly enriched fuels used in marine reactors
Nuclear marine propulsion

Nuclear marine propulsion is propulsion of a ship powered by a nuclear reactor. Naval nuclear propulsion is propulsion that specifically refers to naval warships ....
 and research reactor
Research reactor

Research reactors are nuclear reactors that serve primarily as a neutron source. They are also called non-power reactors, in contrast to power reactors that are used for nuclear power plant, heat generation, or Nuclear marine propulsion....
s the isotope inventory will vary based on in-core fuel management and reactor operating conditions.

Spent fuel corrosion


Noble metal nanoparticles and hydrogen


According to the work of the corrosion
Corrosion

Corrosion means the breaking down of essential properties in a material due to chemical reactions with its surroundings. In the most common use of the word, this means a loss of electrons of metals reacting with water and oxygen....
 electrochemist
Electrochemistry

Electrochemistry is a branch of chemistry that studies chemical reactions which take place in a solution at the interface of an electron Electrical conductor and an ionic conductor , and which involve electron transfer between the electrode and the electrolyte or species in solution....
 Shoesmith the nanoparticle
Nanoparticle

In nanotechnology, a particle is defined as a small object that behaves as a whole unit in terms of its transport and properties. It is further classified according to size: In terms of diameter, fine particles cover a range between 100 and 2500 nanometre, while ultrafine particles, on the other hand, are sized between 1 and 100 nanometers....
s of Mo-Tc-Ru-Pd have a strong effect on the corrosion of uranium dioxide fuel. For instance his work suggests that when the hydrogen (H2) concentration is high (due to the anaerobic
Hypoxia (environmental)

Hypoxia or oxygen depletion is a phenomenon that occurs in aquatic environments as oxygen becomes reduced in concentration to a point detrimental to aquatic organisms living in the system....
 corrosion of the steel
Steel

Steel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.14% by weight , depending on grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten....
 waste can) the oxidation of hydrogen at the nanoparticles will exert a protective effect on the uranium dioxide. This effect can be thought of as an example of protection by a sacrificial anode
Sacrificial anode

A sacrificial anode, or sacrificial rod, is a metallic anode used in cathodic protection where it is intended to be dissolved to protect other metallic components....
 where instead of a metal anode
Anode

An anode is an electrode through which electric charge flows into a polarized electrical device. Mnemonic: ACID . Electrons flow in the opposite direction to the positive electric current....
 reacting and dissolving it is the hydrogen gas which is consumed.

See also

  • Nuclear power
    Nuclear power

    Nuclear power is any nuclear technology designed to extract usable energy from atomic nucleus via controlled nuclear reactions. The only method in use today is through nuclear fission, though other methods might one day include nuclear fusion and radioactive decay ....
  • Spent nuclear fuel shipping cask
    Spent nuclear fuel shipping cask

    Spent nuclear fuel shipping casks are used to transport nuclear fuel used in nuclear power plants and research reactors to disposal sites such as the to-be-opened one at Yucca Mountain or the nuclear reprocessing center at COGEMA La Hague site....