Disposal of

radioactive waste
Submitted by:

Stavan Rathod

Benniz Boban.
Anurag Sharma.
Narmada
Shruti Bharati.
Shubham Khochare.
Mithali Madhu.

Content:
1. Introduction.
2. Types

of Radioactive waste.
3. Management of Radioactive Waste.
4. Management of High Level Waste.
5. Storage and Disposal of used fuel and HLW
waste.
6. Concept of EPA.

Introduction To Radioactive waste:

Radioactive wastes are
the leftovers from the use
of nuclear materials for
the production of
electricity, diagnosis and
treatment of disease, and
other purposes.

Department of Energy
controls over radioactive
activities.

FED
ERA
L
AG
EN
CIE
S

Environmental Protection
Agency:-

Department Of
Transportation:

Department Of Health And

Human Sevices

RA
DIO
AC
TIV
E
WA
STE
MA
NA
GE
ME
NT

Nuclear power is the only large-scale

energy-producing technology which takes
full responsibility for all its wastes and
fully costs this into the product.

The

amount of radioactive wastes is very

small relative to wastes produced by fossil
fuel electricity generation.

Used nuclear fuel may be treated as a

resource or simply as a waste.

Nuclear wastes are neither particularly

hazardous nor hard to manage relative to other
toxic industrial wastes.

Safe methods for the final disposal of highlevel radioactive waste are technically proven;
the international consensus is that this should
be geological disposal.

Types Of Waste:

Exempt Waste.
Low Level Waste.
Intermediate Level Waste.
High Level Waste.

Exempt Level Waste

Source:
Dismantling Operations on
Nuclear industrial sites.

Consist

Of:
Concrete, plaster, Bricks etc.

Method

of Disposal:
Disposed with Domestic refuse.

Low Level Waste

Source:
Hospitals and Industry.

Consist

Of:
Paper, Rags, Tools..etc

Method

Of Disposal:
Disposed In a landfill with
other Garbage.

Intermediate Level Waste

Source:
Ontario Power Generation
(CANDU reactors).

Consist

Of:
Chemical Sludges, Metal fuel
Cladding, and Contaminants
from Reactors.
Method

of disposal:
Solidified in concrete.

High Level Waste

Source:
Burning of Uranium fuel in
a Nuclear reactor.

Consist of:
Fission products and
Transuranic Elements.

Method of Disposal:
Converting into
impenetrable substance.

Managing High Level waste

Reprocess HLW:
Sources:
Used fuel waste from
reactors.
Consist Of:
Highly radioactive fission
products, Transuranic
Elements.
Methods Of Disposal:
Conversion to vitrified
waste.

Unprocessed HLW:
Sources:
Used fuel waste from
reactors.
Consist Of:
Highly Radioactive
fission products.
Methods Of Disposal:
Store in encapsulated
cylinders for 40 years.

Storage and Disposal of

Used Fuel and HLW Waste

Amount of Waste Produced:

2,30,000 tonnes.

Storage site:
Storage Ponds.

These pools are robust constructions made of thick

reinforced concrete with steel liners. Ponds at reactors
are often designed to hold all the used fuel for the life of
the reactor.

One common system is for sealed steel casks or multipurpose canisters (MPCs) each holding about 80 fuel
assemblies with inert gas. Casks/ MPCs may be used
also for transporting and eventual disposal of the used
fuel.

Steps Taken by Environmental

Protection Agency
EPA's role in radioactive
waste management is to set
(develop and issue)
radiation protection
standards and to provide
technical expertise during
radioactive site cleanup.

For disposal, to ensure that no significant

environmental releases occur over tens of thousands of
years, 'multiple barrier' geological disposal is planned.

 Setting standards:
1.

2.

EPA sets generally applicable

radiation protection standards
for the safe management of
radioactive waste.
In some cases, such as the
U.S. Department of Energy's
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and
Yucca Mountain repository,
Congress has assigned EPA
responsibility for setting sitespecific standards. For WIPP,
EPA also oversees DOE's
activities and re-examines its
certification of the facility's
compliance with the standards
every 5 years.