ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the management of the radioactive wastes arising from every stage of the nuclear fuel cycle from mining the uranium to reprocessing the spent fuel after its removal from a reactor. It describes current practices and the methods being developed to ensure that waste management can be carried out with no significant threat to current or future generations. Radioactive waste may be categorized according to the type of radiation given off the level of radiation and the physical and chemical forms of the waste. Combustible waste treatment processes involve oxidation of wastes to ashes. The shallow land burial of radioactive wastes involves placement of the waste at relatively shallow depths with no provisions of retrievability at a later date. Disposal in the deep ocean is a safe method used for dealing with some of the relatively small quantities of low-level radioactive waste produced by the nuclear power industry and the radiochemical industry.