RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT

CONTENTS
Radioactive waste management and disposal

1. Radioactive waste
Definitions and classification
Management solutions

2. Prevention

3. Management
3.1Initial treatment
3.1.1Vitrification
3.1.2Ion exchange
3.1.3Synroc

4. Long term Management

5. Management in India
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1. RADIOACTIVE WASTE:
Radioactive waste is the term used to describe radioactive subs- tances for which no
further use is planned or considered. A radioactive substance is one that contains
naturally occurring or man-made radio- nuclides, the radioactive level or
concentration of which calls for radiation protection control.

Radioactive waste is waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is

usually a by-product of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear
fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine. Radioactive waste is
hazardous to most forms of life and the environment, and is regulated by
government agencies in order to protect human health and the environment.

SYNOPSIS
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1.1 CLASSIFICATION OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE

Radioactive waste is classified according to its activity level and the radioactive half-
life of the radionuclides it contains. The activity level determines the degree of
protection to be provided. Waste is therefore divided into categories, namely very
low-, low-, intermediate-

and high-level waste. Radioactive waste is said to be “short- lived” if it merely only
contains radionuclides with a half-life of less than 31 years.
It is said to be “long-lived “if it contains a significant quantity of radionuclides with a
half-life of over 31 years.

Radionuclide Half-life
Cobalt-60 5.2 years
Tritium 12.2 years
Strontium-90 28.1 years
Caesium-137 30 years
Americium-241 432 years
Radium-226 1,600 years
Carbon-14 5,730 years
Plutonium-239 24,110 years
Neptunium-237 2,140,000 years
Iodine-129 15,700,000 years
Uranium-238 4,470,000,000 years

CLASSIFICATION OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE IS AS FOLLOWS

1. Mill tailings
Uranium tailings are waste by-product materials left over from the rough processing of
uranium-bearing ore. They are not significantly radioactive. Mill tailings are sometimes
referred to as 11(e)2 wastes, from the section of the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 that
defines them. Uranium mill tailings typically also contain chemically hazardous heavy
metal such as lead and arsenic. Vast mounds of uranium mill tailings are left at many old
mining sites, especially in Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.
Classification
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2. Low-level waste
It is generated from hospitals and industry, as well as the nuclear fuel cycle. Low-level
wastes include paper, rags, tools, clothing, filters, and other materials which contain
small amounts of mostly short-lived radioactivity. Materials that originate from any
region of an Active Area are commonly designated as LLW as a precautionary measure
even if there is only a remote possibility of being contaminated with radioactive
materials. Such LLW typically exhibits no higher radioactivity than one would expect
from the same material disposed of in a non-active area, such as a normal office block.
Example LLW includes wiping rags, mops, medical tubes, laboratory animal carcasses,
and more.

3. Intermediate-level waste
Intermediate-level waste (ILW) contains higher amounts of radioactivity and in general
require shielding, but not cooling. Intermediate-level wastes includes resins, chemical
sludge and metal nuclear fuel cladding, as well as contaminated materials from reactor
decommissioning. It may be solidified in concrete or bitumen for disposal. As a general
rule, short-lived waste (mainly non-fuel materials from reactors) is buried in shallow
repositories, while long-lived waste (from fuel and fuel reprocessing) is deposited in
geological repository. U.S. regulations do not define this category of waste; the term is
used in Europe and elsewhere.

4. High-level waste
High-level waste (HLW) is produced by nuclear reactors. The exact definition of HLW
differs internationally. After a nuclear fuel rod serves one fuel cycle and is removed from
the core, it is considered HLW. Fuel rods contain fission products and transuranic
elements generated in the reactor core. Spent fuel is highly radioactive and often hot.
HLW accounts for over 95 percent of the total radioactivity produced in the process of
nuclear electricity generation. The amount of HLW worldwide is currently increasing by
about 12,000 metric tons every year, which is the equivalent to about 100 double-
decker buses (~200 single-decker buses) or a two-story structure with a footprint the
size of a basketball court. A 1000-MW nuclear power plant produces about 27 tonnes of
spent nuclear fuel (unreprocessed) every year. In 2010, there was very roughly
estimated to be stored some 250,000 tons of nuclear HLW, that does not include
amounts that have escaped into the environment from accidents or tests. Japan
estimated to hold 17,000 tons of HLW in storage in 2015. HLW have been shipped to
other countries to be stored or reprocessed, and in some cases, shipped back as active
fuel.
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5. Transuranic waste
Transuranic waste (TRUW) as defined by U.S. regulations is, without regard to form or
origin, waste that is contaminated with alpha-emitting transuranic radionuclides with
half-lives greater than 20 years and concentrations greater than 100 nCi/g (3.7 MBq/kg),
excluding high-level waste. Elements that have an atomic number greater than uranium
are called transuranic ("beyond uranium"). Because of their long half-lives, TRUW is
disposed more cautiously than either low- or intermediate-level waste. In the U.S., it
arises mainly from weapons production, and consists of clothing, tools, rags, residues,
debris and other items contaminated with small amounts of radioactive elements
(mainly plutonium).
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2. PREVENTION
Radiation Pollution can be controlled and prevented at various levels, including the
handling and treatment of radiation waste, the control and mitigation of nuclear
accidents, as well as the control and minimization of personal exposure to radiation
at an individual level.

The treatment of radiation waste cannot be done through degradation by chemical

or biological processes. Additionally, many radioactive materials have very long half-
times (time necessary for half of the material to degrade or transform into non-
radioactive materials) and thus radiation waste may pose a risk for many years after
it was produced. Basically, there are only a few options for radiation waste
treatment involving:

o Containment of the waste in radiation-shielded containers usually buried

underground
o Isolation of radiation waste in remote locations such as remote caves or
abandoned mines - which may also involve the use of some kind of barriers
(shields),
o When the first two alternatives are not possible, the waste may be diluted until
background values are achieved.

2.1 INDIVIDUAL PREVENTION MEASURES

At individual levels, there are measures you may take to prevent and/or reduce
radiation pollution that may affect you and your family.

• First, testing of your home for radon may be done by each person using
inexpensive testing kits or by specialized consulting services. If radiation
seems to be an issue (a higher than background value of radon in the home
is found), a preferred radon reduction technique is the installation of a
special system called active soil depressurization (ASD). This system contains
a vent pipe with an inline centrifugal fan that operates continuously to vent
radon and other intruding gases from beneath the house. Thus, the system
may be efficient to block the intrusion into homes not only of radon, but
also of other toxic chemicals (non-radioactive) that may get from the
subsurface into indoor breathing air.
PREVENTION
 RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT

• Also, a good way of avoiding radiation exposure is to choose an appropriate

location for your home, away from the main sources of radiation pollution
sources.
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3. MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE

Of particular concern in nuclear waste management are two long-lived fission
products, Tc-99 (half-life 220,000 years) and I-129 (half-life 15.7 million years), which
dominate spent fuel radioactivity after a few thousand years. The most troublesome
transuranic elements in spent fuel are Np-237 (half-life two million years) and Pu-
239 (half-life 24,000 years). Nuclear waste requires sophisticated treatment and
management to successfully isolate it from interacting with the biosphere. This
usually necessitates treatment, followed by a long-term management strategy
involving storage, disposal or transformation of the waste into a non-toxic form.
Governments around the world are considering a range of waste management and
disposal options, though there has been limited progress toward long-term waste
management solutions.

3.1 Initial treatment

3.1.1 Vitrification
Long-term storage of radioactive waste requires the stabilization of the waste
into a form which will neither react nor degrade for extended periods. It is
theorized that one way to do this might be through vitrification Currently at
Sellafield the high-level waste (PUREX first cycle raffinate) is mixed with sugar
and then calcined. Calcination involves passing the waste through a heated,
rotating tube. The purposes of calcination are to evaporate the water from the
waste, and de-nitrate the fission products to assist the stability of the glass
produced.

The 'calcine' generated is fed continuously into an induction heated furnace with
fragmented glass. The resulting glass is a new substance in which the waste
products are bonded into the glass matrix when it solidifies. As a melt, this
product is poured into stainless steel cylindrical containers ("cylinders") in a
batch process. When cooled, the fluid solidifies ("vitrifies") into the glass. After
being formed, the glass is highly resistant to water.
MANAGEMENT
 RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT

3.1.2 Ion exchange

It is common for medium active wastes in the nuclear industry to be treated with
ion exchange or other means to concentrate the radioactivity into a small
volume. The much less radioactive bulk (after treatment) is often then
discharged. For instance, it is possible to use a ferric hydroxide floc to remove
radioactive metals from aqueous mixtures. After the radioisotopes are absorbed
onto the ferric hydroxide, the resulting sludge can be placed in a metal drum
before being mixed with cement to form a solid waste form. In order to get
better long-term performance (mechanical stability) from such forms, they may
be made from a mixture of fly ash, or blast furnace slag, and Portland cement,
instead of normal concrete (made with Portland cement, gravel and sand).

3.1.3 Synroc
The Australian Synroc (synthetic rock) is a more sophisticated way to immobilize
such waste, and this process may eventually come into commercial use for civil
wastes (it is currently being developed for US military wastes). Synroc was
invented by Prof Ted Ringwood (a geochemist) at the Australian National
University. The Synroc contains pyrochlore and cryptomelane type minerals. The
original form of Synroc (Synroc C) was designed for the liquid high level waste
(PUREX raffinate) from a light water reactor. The main minerals in this Synroc are
hollandite (BaAl2Ti6O16), zirconolite (CaZrTi2O7) and perovskite (CaTiO3). The
zirconolite and perovskite are hosts for the actinides. The strontium and barium
will be fixed in the perovskite. The caesium will be fixed in the hollandite.
 RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT

4. LONG TERM MANAGEMENT

The time frame in question when dealing with radioactive waste ranges from 10,000
to 1,000,000 years, according to studies based on the effect of estimated radiation
doses. Researchers suggest that forecasts of health detriment for such periods
should be examined critically. Practical studies only consider up to 100 years as far
as effective planning and cost evaluations are concerned. Long term behavior of
radioactive wastes remains a subject for ongoing research projects in
geoforecasting.

4.1 Above-ground disposal

Dry cask storage typically involves taking waste from a spent fuel pool and sealing it
(along with an inert gas) in a steel cylinder, which is placed in a concrete cylinder
which acts as a radiation shield. It is a relatively inexpensive method which can be
done at a central facility or adjacent to the source reactor. The waste can be easily
retrieved for reprocessing.

4.2 Geologic disposal

The process of selecting appropriate deep final repositories for high level waste and
spent fuel is now under way in several countries with the first expected to be
commissioned some time after 2010. The basic concept is to locate a large, stable
geologic formation and use mining technology to excavate a tunnel, or large-bore
tunnel boring machines (similar to those used to drill the Channel Tunnel from
England to France) to drill a shaft 500 metres (1,600 ft) to 1,000 metres (3,300 ft)
below the surface where rooms or vaults can be excavated for disposal of high-level
radioactive waste. The goal is to permanently isolate nuclear waste from the human
environment. Many people remain uncomfortable with the immediate stewardship
cessation of this disposal system, suggesting perpetual management and
monitoring would be more prudent.
Management
 RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT

4.3 Transmutation
There have been proposals for reactors that consume nuclear waste and transmute
it to other, less-harmful or shorter-lived, nuclear waste. In particular, the Integral
Fast Reactor was a proposed nuclear reactor with a nuclear fuel cycle that produced
no transuranic waste and in fact, could consume transuranic waste. It proceeded as
far as large-scale tests, but was then canceled by the US Government. Another
approach, considered safer but requiring more development, is to dedicate
subcritical reactors to the transmutation of the left-over transuranic elements.
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5. RADIOATIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA

Concern for the environment and establishment of radiation protection goals have
been among the major priorities in planning of India's nuclear energy programme. In
the Indian nuclear fuel cycle, right from inception, a closed loop option has been
adopted where spent fuel is reprocessed to recover plutonium and unused uranium.
The emphasis has been to recover actinides, individual fission products and recycle
them back to the fuel cycle or use them for various industrial applications. The
development of innovative treatment processes for low and intermediate level wastes
in recent times has focused on volume reduction as one of the main objectives. In the
case of high-level liquid waste, vitrification in borosilicate matrix is being practiced
using induction heated metallic melters at industrial scale plants at Tarapur and
Trombay.

Currently, there are seven operating near surface disposal facilities co-located with
power/research reactors in various parts of the country for disposal of low and
intermediate level solid wastes. These are routinely subjected to monitoring and
safety/performance assessment. An interim storage facility is operational for the
storage of vitrified high-level waste overpacks for 30 years or more. Nation wide
screening of potential regions and evaluation of rock mass characteristics is in
progress for ongoing geological repository programme. Preliminary design and layout
of an underground research laboratory/repository has also been initiated.

A research programme is underway for long-term evaluation of vitrified waste

product under simulated repository conditions. Research is also directed towards
development of advanced technologies for waste processing as well as conditioning
in vitreous and ceramic matrices. The Department of Atomic Energy with
participation of the Indian industry has developed all essential remote-handling
gadgets required for operation and maintenance of waste management system and
assemblies including decommissioning.

Management
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Radioactive wastes from the nuclear reactors and reprocessing plants are treated and
stored at each site. Waste immobilisation plants are in operation at Tarapur and
Trombay and another is constructed at Kalpakkam.

Sixteen nuclear reactors produce about 3% of India’s electricity, and seven more are
under construction. Spent fuel is processed at facilities in Trombay near Mumbai, at
Tarapur on the west coast north of Mumbai, and at Kalpakkam on the southeast coast
of India. Interim storage for 30 years is expected, with eventual disposal in a deep
geological repository in crystalline rock near Kalpakkam.