# A nuclear power station uses a radioactive fuel rod. After the fuel rod is removed from the reactor, it must be stored safely for many years because it contains radioactive waste products. One of these waste products has a very long half-life. Explain why a long half-life makes radioactive waste products more dangerous to store than waste products with a short half-life.

> WJEC GCSE Physics (Wales) — 2.8 Half-life · Explain · 4 marks

> Radioactive waste from nuclear power stations contains isotopes with a range of different half-lives. Safe storage of this waste is a major challenge for the nuclear industry.

## Mark scheme (4 marks)

1. Half-life is the time taken for the number of radioactive nuclei (or activity/count rate) to halve
2. A long half-life means the activity (or count rate) decreases very slowly over time
3. The waste product remains dangerously radioactive for a much longer period of time
4. Therefore it must be kept in safe storage for a much longer time (compared to a short half-life waste product)

## Key terms

- [half-life](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/glossary/half-life)

## Related

- [Revision notes for WJEC GCSE Physics (Wales)](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/learn)
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