ABSTRACT
Disposal of radioactive wastes is the most complicated task that a geotechnical engineer has to accomplish. Attewell (1993, p. 199) and Aswathanarayana (1995, pp. 221-223) gave a concise account of the issues involved. Uranium mines, nuclear fabrication facilities, nuclear reactors, reprocessing plants, etc. produce radioactive wastes. They are generally classified as low-level, medium or intermediate level and high level wastes, depending upon the nature and content of radionuclides, rate of decay, rate of heat generation and methods of treatment. Low-level radioactive wastes are produced in the course of uranium mining, concentration and conversion plants, and liquid and gaseous effluents. Intermediate wastes include fission products from fuel fabrication and spent-fuel reprocessing plants. Spent reactor fuel and cladding hulls constitute high-level wastes. How the wastes form and how they need to be managed are described in detail in Sections 3.2 and 3.3.
