MANAGEMENT OF

RADIOACTIVE WASTES

Environmental Engineering
 Radioactivity
Radioactivity is a property of emitting energy and
subatomic particle, an attribute of individual
nuclei.
 What happens?
 Spontaneous decomposition or decay of unstable
nuclei to stable form.
 Radioactivity
How?
 By emitting certain particles or certain forms of
electromagnetic energy.

How long?
 Until a stable nuclide has been formed.
 Characteristics of Radiation &
Radioactivity
1. Distance – the level of radiation is inversely
proportional to the square of the distance.
 If you move twice the distance from a radioactive
material, you will be exposed to 1/4 the level of
radiation.
 It's like a flashlight: the further away you are, the
weaker the light becomes.
 Characteristics of Radiation &
Radioactivity
2. Penetrating power – The penetrating power of
the radiation depends on what type of radiation.

-rays

-rays
-rays
x-rays
Neutron
-rays

Paper Thin metal sheet Thick lead or Water or concrete

(aluminum) steel plates
Stops -rays Stops neutron rays
Stops -rays Stops -rays
& x-rays
 Characteristics of Radiation &
Radioactivity
 Alpha ()-rays
 Due to charge, it interacts strongly with matter.
 Unable to penetrate sheet of paper, outer layer of dead
skin cells, but can if ingested in food.
 Beta ()-rays
 Stopped by aluminum foil, thick piece of plastic, stack of
papers
 Penetrates skin a few centimeters
 Gamma ()-rays
 Can penetrate into the body
 Can be stopped by lead or depleted uranium
 Characteristics of Radiation &
Radioactivity
 X-rays
 Similar to gamma particles
 Difference: originates from electron cloud instead of
nucleus; has longer wavelength and lower energy than
gamma particle
 Neutron-rays
 Blocked by hydrogen rich material like concrete or
water.
 Only radiation that turns other materials radioactive
 Characteristics of Radiation &
Radioactivity
3. Half-Life – The time in which radioactivity
decays to half its original level.
 Radioactivity becomes weaker as time passes, and
the level of radiation decays over time
 Half-life differs depending on different radioactive
materials.
Characteristics of Radiation &
Radioactivity
 Characteristics of Radiation &
Radioactivity
Radioactive Materials and their Half Life

Radioactive
Type Type of Radiation Half Life
Material
Iodine 131 -rays /-rays 8.0 days
Artificial Cobalt 60 -rays /-rays 5.3 years
Radioactive
Materials Cesium 137 -rays / -rays 30 years
Plutonium 239 -rays / -rays 24,000 years
Radium 226 -rays / -rays 1,600 years
Radioactive Uranium 238 -rays / -rays / -rays 4,500 M years
Materials in the
Natural World Radon 222 -rays / -rays 3.8 days
Kalium 40 -rays /-rays 1,300 M years
Effects and Dangers
 Radioactive Wastes
Wastes containing radioactive chemical
elements.
Usually products from:
 Mining industries
 Nuclear power industries
 Defense
 medicine
 Sources of Radioactive Wastes
Nuclear fuel cycle
Nuclear weapons decommissioning
Medical
Industrial
Naturally occurring radioactive materials
Coal, gas, and oil
 Sources of Radioactive Wastes
Nuclear fuel cycle
 Fission products removed from the fuel are
concentrated form of high-level waste as are the
chemicals used in the process.
 In the US the used fuel are usually stored.
 In Russia, UK, France, Japan and India, the fuel is
reprocessed to remove the fission products, and the
fuel can be reused.
 Sources of Radioactive Wastes
Nuclear weapons decommissioning
 Unlikely to contain much beta or gamma activity other
than tritium and americium.
 It is more likely to contain alpha-emitting actinides
such as Pu-239 which is a fissile material used in
bombs.
 Sources of Radioactive Wastes
Radioactive Medical Wastes
 Tend to contain beta particle and gamma ray emitters.
 Ytrium (Y-90) used for treating liver cancer (2.7 days)
 Iodine (I-131) used for thyroid function tests and for
treating thyroid cancer (8 days)
 Strontium (Sr-89) used for treating bone cancer,
intravenous injection (52 days)
 Sources of Radioactive Wastes
Man made sources
 Exposure is mostly through medical procedures like
x-ray diagnostics.
 Radiation therapy is usually targeted only to the
affected tissue.
 Sources of Radioactive Wastes
Industrial sources
 Industrial sources of radioactive wastes can contain
alpha, beta, gamma or neutron emitters.
 Gamma emitters are used in radiography while
neutron emitting sources are used in a range of
applications, such as oil well logging.
 Sources of Radioactive Wastes
Coal, Oil and Gas
 Coal contains a small amount of radioactive uranium,
barium, thorium and potassium, but in the case of
pure coal, this is significantly less than the average
concentration of those elements in the Earth’s crust.
 Residues from the oil and gas industry often contain
radium and its decay products.
 Sources of Radioactive Wastes
Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials
(NORM)
 After human processing the waste becomes
technologically enhanced becoming naturally
radioactive material (TENORM).
 A lot of this waste is alpha particle-emitting matter
from the decay chains of uranium and thorium.
 Sources of Radioactive Wastes
Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials
(NORM)
 The main source of radiation in the human body is
potassium-40.
 TENORM is not regulated as restrictively as nuclear
reactor waste, though there are no significant
differences in the readiological risks of these
materials.
 Types of Radioactive Wastes
Classification depends on
 Source
 physical form (solid, liquid or gas)
 the level of radioactivity
 the amount of short-lived and the long - lived
radionuclides
 storage requirements or toxicity.
 Types of Radioactive Wastes
Type Characteristics Disposal Options
Levels of activity under the national levels It does not require
1. Excepted Waste (EW) of discharges, based on annual dose for radiological
population members, less than 0.01 mSv. restrictions
2. Low and Intermediate Activity above the limit of discharge and
Level Waste - LILW thermal power less than 2kW / m3
Limited concentrations of long – lived radio
2.1 Low and Intermediate Surface Disposal
nuclides (Limitation of α emitting radio
Level Waste - Short or Geological
nuclides to 4000 Bq / g in individual
Lived - LILW - SL Disposal
packages)
2.2 Low and Intermediate Long - lived radio nuclides concentrations
Level Waste - Long exceed the limits for short-lived radioactive Geological disposal
Lived - LILW-LL waste
Thermal power above 2kW / m3 and
3. High Level Waste (HLW) concentrations of long-lived radio nuclides Geological disposal
that exceed the levels for short-lived waste.
 Types of Radioactive Wastes

VSLW VLLW LLW ILW ILW

Storage Landfill-type Repository Repository at Deep

repository at or near depth of a few geological
for Decay
surface tenth or hundred repository
meters
Classification of Radioactive Wastes

Low level
 Generated from hospitals and industry, as well
as the nuclear fuel cycle.
 Materials that originate from any region of an
Active Area are commonly designated as LLE.
Classification of Radioactive Wastes

Intermediate level
 Contains higher amounts of radioactivity and
in general require shielding, but not cooling.
 Includes resins, chemical sludge and metal
nuclear cladding, as well as contaminated
materials from reactor decommissioning.
Classification of Radioactive Wastes

High level
 Produced by nuclear reactor.
 Increasing worldwide by about 12,000 MT/y
 In 2010, roughly 250,000 tons of nuclear HLW
were estimated to be stored.
 The main proposed long-term solution is deep
geological burial, either in a mine or a deep
borehole.
 Radioactive Wastes Management
The main objective in the radioactive waste
management is to deal with waste in a manner that
ensures the protection of the human,
environmental and prevent being exposed to
radiation risks and ensure the safety of future
generations of these risks
 Management of HLW
Treatment and Packaging
 HLW typically arises in liquid form
 The liquid HLW is mixed with crushed glass in a furnace
to produce a molten product.
 The molten product is then poured into stainless steel
canisters, which hold approximately 150 litres of waste.
This is a process called ‘vitrification’ and converts the
waste into a stable, solid form for long-term storage and
disposal.
 Management of HLW
Storage
 The canisters are placed into an air-cooled
store until a suitable disposal route becomes
available.
 The vitrified HLW is stored for at least 50 years
before disposal. This allows much of the
radioactivity to decay away and the waste to
cool.
 When a disposal facility becomes available,
each individual canister will be placed inside
two further containers before disposal.
 Management of HLW
Long Term Management
 Geological disposal
 This involves placing packaged
radioactive waste in an engineered,
underground facility or ‘repository’.
 The geology (rock structure)
provides a barrier against the
escape of radioactivity.
 There is no intention to retrieve the
waste once the facility is closed.
 Management of ILW
Treatment and Packaging
 May need treatment before being
packaged for storage and disposal.
 Treatment may involve super
compacting, cutting or drying.
 Packaging involves placing the waste
into a suitable container and
immobilizing the waste in cement-
based materials.
 Management of ILW
Storage
 ILW packages are held in interim stores until a suitable
disposal route becomes available.

Long Term Management

 Geological disposal
 Near surface disposal
The location of these facilities should be as close as
possible to the waste generating site.
 Management of LLW
Treatment and Disposal Options
 Metals Recycling
 The waste is cut into pieces before being placed into large
containers, similar to shipping containers.
 The metals are then taken to a recycling facility, where the
surface of the metal is removed by shot blasting, leaving
clean metal beneath.
 The clean metal is then rigorously checked for any leftover
contamination before it can be approved for recycling
alongside other metals.
 Management of LLW
Treatment and Disposal Options
 Incineration
 Some LLW, such as plastic, textiles and oils, can be
incinerated.
 This burns the waste at high temperatures in a controlled
chamber and reduces the volume of waste for disposal by
around 90% or more.
 After incineration, only ash and filter dust remains.
 Management of LLW
Treatment and Disposal Options
 Direct Disposal
 Typically placed in large metal
containers, similar to shipping containers.
 The waste may also need cutting or
super-compacting to reduce its volume
and then immobilized with cement.
 The waste containers are carefully
arranged in highly engineered vaults for
disposal.
 Management of Nuclear Materials
 Nuclear materials are radioactive items
which have potential value and are not
currently considered as waste.
 This includes uranium and plutonium,
which can be used to make nuclear fuel.
 This also includes spent nuclear fuels,
which could be reprocessed and reused.
 At present, these materials are safely
stored in case there is a need for them
in the future.