Radioactive Waste

Management
 What is radioactive waste?
Composed of Radionuclide's
Low, Medium and High level wastes
High level wastes produced in nuclear reactors
consists of
 Fission products(short-half lives)
Act inides(long-half lives)
 Why is this an issue?
The amount of waste nuclear power plants make is quite
small compared to other industries. But some nuclear
power plant wastes are radioactive. Nuclear power plants
are not the only producers of radioactive waste. Radioactive
waste is also produced by hospitals and other industrial
processes. All producers of radioactive waste must ensure
that special care is taken to dispose of these materials and
also to protect workers, the public and the environment.
The way it is disposed of depends on how radioactive the
waste is, the half-life of the waste, and the physical and
chemical form of the waste. These considerations help
identify appropriate ways for disposing of nuclear waste.
1) Fuel left over from producing nuclear energy
2) Radioactive material in filters used for water that
circulates through a reactor
3) Paper towels or rags used to wipe up radioactive
water
4) Contaminated pieces of equipment
5) Certain parts, such as pipes and reactor structures
Categories of radioactive
waste
High-Level Radioactive Waste (HLW)

High level waste has a large amount of

radioactive activity and is thermally hot.
3% volume of waste.
95% of radioactivity.
Current levels of HLW are increasing at
about 12,000 m tons per year.
Most HLW consists of Pu-238, 239,
240, 241, 242, N-236
 Intermediate Level Waste (ILW)
Intermediate level waste contains higher
radioactivity levels than low level wastes.
Waste which requires shielding but needs
little or no provision for heat dissipation
during its handling and transportation.
Intermediate level waste typically is
chemical sludge, resins etc.
7% volume of the waste.
 Low Level Waste (LLW)
Contains VERY LOW concentration of
radioactivity.
Waste which does not require shielding
during normal handling and
transportation.
90% volume of waste.
Basic Steps and Activitie
in Radioactive Waste
Management
 Pre-treatment
Pre-treatment is the initial step that occurs
just after waste generation. It may involve
collection, segregation, chemical
adjustment and decontamination and may
also include a period of interim storage.
The aim of this step is to segregate waste
into streams that will be managed in similar
ways, and to isolate non-radioactive wastes
or those materials that can be recycled.
 Treatment
Treatment involves changing the characteristics of
the waste by volume reduction, radionuclide
removal or change of composition. Typical
treatment operations include:
 compaction of dry solid waste or incineration
of solid or organic liquid wastes (volume
reduction);
 filtration or ion exchange of liquid waste
(radionuclide removal); and
 precipitation or flocculation of chemical
species (change of composition).
 Conditiong
Conditioning involves transforming radioactive
waste into a form that is suitable for handling,
transport, storage and disposal. This might involve
immobilization of radioactive waste, placing waste
into containers or providing additional packaging.
Common immobilization methods include
solidification of LLW and ILW liquid radioactive
waste in cement, and verification of HLW in a
glass matrix. Immobilized waste may be placed in
steel drums or other engineered containers to
create a waste package.
 Storage
Storage of radioactive waste may take place at any
stage in the radioactive waste management process
and aims to isolate the radioactive waste, help protect
the environment and make it easier to control its
disposal. Storage may be used to make the next step
in the management process more straightforward or
to act as a buffer between or within steps. Waste
might be stored for many years before it undergoes
further processing and disposal. Some storage
facilities are located within a nuclear power plant or a
licensed disposal facility, others are separate
facilities.
 Disposal
Disposal occurs when packages of
radioactive waste are deposited in a
disposal facility, with no intention of
retrieval. Disposal may also include
discharging radioactive wastes such as
liquid and gaseous effluent into the
environment and transfer of wastes from
one site to another.
 DISPOSAL OF LOW LEVEL WASTE

It includes contaminated equipment from

the operation of nuclear power plant like
clothing, rags, tools and equipment.
Very short-lived low-level radioactive
waste such as that from hospitals,
universities and industry generally contains
only small amounts of radioactive materials
with short half -lives. This means that
radioactivity decays away in hours or days.
 Disposal of intermediate level waste

Intermediate level radioactive wastes

require long-term management.
These are much bulkier materials and are
first sealed in steel drums and are encased
in concrete trenches.
 Disposal of High Level waste
The volume of these HLW can be reduced
by Nuclear reprocessing. This
reprocessing does not eliminate the need
for a repository, but reduces the volume.
These repositories are at least a few
hundred meters below the ground level.