ABSTRACT
The waste from the nuclear industries requires comprehensive treatment if man and nature are to be protected against radioactivity. Though nuclear wastes are not alone in being dangerous to life, they have acquired special visibility in the past few years. The nuclear fuel-cycle begins with the extraction of uranium ores from rock and ends with the disposal of wastes. Radioactive wastes are produced at all stages of the nuclear fuel cycle, though the major quantities occur at the front and back ends of the cycle. Wastes from the mining operation consist of waste rock, or very low grade ore, which can be disposed of in the mine if it presents an exposure hazard and liquid waste, a combination of mine drainage and water used in the mining operation, and which is generally all used in the mill. It also include: Gaseous wastes, the exhaust ventilation, which contains radon gas as well as ore dust.
