ABSTRACT
If there’s one part of the nuclear industry with a guaranteed future, it ‘s waste disposal. The widespread use of radioactive materials – from industry to medicine, in power stations and weapons – generates an equally wide range of radioactive wastes. Some are more dangerous than others while some are considered safe enough to be discharged directly into the environment. In some cases, radioactive gases may be vented to the atmosphere while radioactive liquids are flushed into drains, rivers and the sea. In 1989, for example, some 808 premises in England were authorised to discharge liquid radioactive wastes into drainage systems including public sewers. 1 Many wastes, however, cannot be discharged in this manner, either because they are solid, too dangerous to release, or both. Such materials, known as “contained wastes”, must be isolated in varying degrees from the environment.
