Spent Fuel Storage
As the fuel elements release energy in the reactor, they become very hot and radioactive. After the fuel elements are used up, they are removed from the reactor and stored in pools of water to cool off and become less radioactive. The spent fuel can be kept for long periods in these cooling ponds or in special dry storage facilities. But both types of storage are intended only as an interim step before the spent fuel is either reprocessed or prepared for final disposal.