Nuclear waste:

Radioactive and extremely toxic byproducts of nuclear fuel processing plants, and
nuclear medicine and nuclear weapons industries. Nuclear wastes remain radioactive
for thousands of years and have to be buried deep on land or at sea in thick concrete
or metal (lead and stainless-steel) containers.

1. The wastes associated with nuclear power plants

a. Gaseous effluents
b. Uranium mine and mill tailings
c. Low Level wastes
d. High level wastes
e. Spent fuel.
2. Radiation from nuclear power plant effluents
3. Biological effects of high-level wastes
4. Disposal of nuclear fuel

a. Gaseous effluents
The gaseous effluents from reactor operations may contain
radioisotopes of the noble gases (principally, argon-41, krypton-85 and xenon-133),
the radioiodines-129 and -131, tritium and oxides of carbon-14. However, as
mentioned, the main release of gaseous radionuclides occurs when the spent nuclear
fuel is breached and dissolved at the fuel reprocessing plant. There, the major
releases are krypton-85, xenon-133, the radioiodines-129 and-131 and tritium.
Xenon-133 with its relatively short (5.3 day) half-life is not anticipated to be a
problem, with methods available for delay and decay, if necessary, prior to its
release. The radioiodines can be eliminated from gaseous waste streams by counter-
current scrubbing of the gas with aqueous solutions of caustic, mercuric nitrate, nitric
acid, or by chemical adsorption on zeolites treated with silver or on other metals with
an affinity for iodine. Another method is by adsorption on charcoal, which also can
be impregnated with chemicals that will take up the iodine complexes. While the
extent to which tritium, krypton-85 and carbon-14 can be released into the
atmosphere without becoming a matter of global concern has not been definitely
established, analyses have indicated that this should not be a problem before the end
of the century. Nevertheless, cryogenic (low temperature) separation methods are
becoming available for removal of krypton-85 and xenon-133, if necessary. Other
removal techniques, such as absorption in liquid fluorocarbons, adsorption on
charcoal or other solids, and diffusion through membranes are under development.
So far, no practical process has been found for the removal of tritium from waste
effluents since much of the tritium that is released is highly diluted as titrated water.
A promising approach for tritium removal in fuel reprocessing is to confine, oxidize
and collect the gaseous effluents from the shearing and other reprocessing plant
head-end operations, converting the tritium (T2) to T2O (probably THO) at a tritium
concentration of 1 to 5%. Other approaches being investigated are the adsorption of
tritium on vanadium oxide, and isotopic separation processes such as high pressure
and temperature diffusion through palladium films and the use of molecular sieves.
Selective solvent extraction techniques also are being considered. Carbon-14 can be
removed in the oxide form from gaseous effluents by caustic scrubbing or adsorption
on solid alkaline media, if the need arises. Radioactive particulate matter and
aerosols in gaseous effluents can be removed by high efficiency filtration techniques.

b. Uranium mine and mill tailings

Uranium mill tailings are primarily the sandy process
waste material from a conventional uranium mill. This ore residue contains the
radioactive decay products from the uranium chains (mainly the U-238 chain) and
heavy metals. Its defined as the tailings or wastes produced by the extraction or
concentration of uranium or thorium from any ore processed primarily for its source
material content is byproduct material. This includes discrete surface waste resulting
from uranium solution extraction processes, such as in situ recovery, heap leach, and
ion-exchange. Byproduct material does not include underground ore bodies depleted
by solution extraction. The wastes from these solution extraction facilities are
transported to a mill tailings impoundment for disposal.

c. Low Level wastes (LLW)

A general term for a wide range of items that have
become contaminated with radioactive material or have become radioactive through
exposure to neutron radiation. A variety of industries, hospitals and medical
institutions, educational and research institutions, private or government
laboratories, and nuclear fuel cycle facilities generate LLW as part of their day-to-
day use of radioactive materials. Some examples include radioactively contaminated
protective shoe covers and clothing; cleaning rags, mops, filters, and reactor water
treatment residues; equipment and tools; medical tubes, swabs, and hypodermic
syringes; and carcasses and tissues from laboratory animals. The radioactivity in
these wastes can range from just above natural background levels to much higher
levels, such as seen in parts from inside the reactor vessel in a nuclear power plant
Low-level waste is typically stored onsite by licensees, either until it
has decayed away and can be disposed of as ordinary trash, or until the accumulated
amount becomes large enough to warrant shipment to a low-level waste
disposal site.
 d. High level wastes
High-level radioactive wastes are the highly radioactive
materials produced as a byproduct of the reactions that occur inside nuclear
reactors. High-level wastes take one of two forms:
 Spent (used) reactor fuel when it is accepted for disposal
 Waste materials remaining after spent fuel is reprocessed
Spent nuclear fuel is used fuel from a reactor that is no longer efficient in creating
electricity, because its fission process has slowed. However, it is still thermally
hot, highly radioactive, and potentially harmful. Until a permanent disposal
repository for spent nuclear fuel is built, licensees must safely store this fuel at
their reactors.
Reprocessing extracts isotopes from spent fuel that can be used again as reactor
fuel. Commercial reprocessing is currently not practiced in the United States,
although it has been allowed in the past. However, significant quantities of high-
level radioactive waste are produced by the defense reprocessing programs
at Department of Energy (DOE) facilities, such as Hanford, Washington, and
Savannah River, South Carolina, and by commercial reprocessing operations at
West Valley, New York. These wastes, which are generally managed by DOE,
are not regulated by NRC. However they must be included in any high-level
radioactive waste disposal plans, along with all high-level waste from spent
reactor fuel.
Because of their highly radioactive fission products, high-level waste and spent
fuel must be handled and stored with care. Since the only way radioactive waste
finally becomes harmless is through decay, which for high-level wastes can take
hundreds of thousands of years, the wastes must be stored and finally disposed
of in a way that provides adequate protection of the public for a very long time.

2) Radiation from nuclear power plant effluents

Commercial nuclear power plants release small
amounts of radiation into the environment under normal operating conditions. Many
of the radioactive isotopes that are released are in the form of gaseous or liquid
effluents and solid radioactive waste conditioned by the plant. These releases
represent some of the by-products of electrical energy generation (Eisenbud &
Gesell, 1997).
Three categories of radioactive by-products are produced during routine operation
of a commercial light-water reactor: fission products, neutron activation products,
and tritium (Glasstone & Jordan, 1980). Fission products are created as a result of
the radioactive decay of the nuclear fuel. Approximately 300 different nuclides are
formed in the operating reactor. Most of these nuclides are radioactive. Although
there is a large quantity of fission products formed, many have little impact on the
radioactive releases to the environment because of their extremely short half-lives
(<1 day), small quantities, or biological insignificance. Gaseous fission products
important to these releases include: 3H, 85Kr, and 133Xe. Iodine, solid at room
temperature, is also released as a gaseous effluent due to vaporization. Important
dose significant iodine isotopes include: 131I, 133I, and 135I. Other decay daughters
of produced fission products may also appear in the gaseous effluents as particulate
matter (USNRC, 1976a, 1976b).
Activation products are formed by neutron interactions with oxygen in water and air,
with nitrogen and argon in air, and with impurity corrosion elements. Like fission
products, many of the neutron activation products produced are insignificant in
reactor effluents due to their short half-lives (<1 day) or small quantities. Relevant
gaseous activation products include: 13N, 14C, 16N, and 41Ar (NCRP, 1985, 1987).
Important liquid and solid waste activation products arising from interaction of
neutrons with corrosion and erosion elements include: 51Cr, 58Co, 60Co, and 59Fe
(Kahn, 1980; USNRC, 1976a, 1976b).
Tritium (3H or T), is produced as a result of both nuclear fission (ternary fission)
and neutron activation of deuterium (2H). Tritium is typically treated separately
because it is produced in such large quantities compared to any other effluent nuclide
and because it arises from other nuclear reactions. One significant source of tritium
is the interaction of high energy neutrons with boron. Boron is used in PWRs for
shim control (as boric acid) and BWRs as a burnable poison (Glasstone & Jordan,
1980). Tritium is also formed from the interaction of neutrons with 6Li (as lithium
hydroxide in water treatment).
There has been a gradual reduction in both liquid and gaseous emissions from power
reactors due to improvements in fuel performance and radioactive waste treatment
system technology (Harris, 2002). However, the Electric Power Research Institute
(EPRI) reports that although radioactive isotopes captured by these systems reduce
effluent quantities, radioactive solid waste volumes increase (2003). Also, with
longer operating times and license extensions, the accumulation of spent fuel is
becoming more important. Many plants have begun storing spent fuel on-site in
independent storage facilities. The ageing of existing nuclear power facilities and
the increasing accumulation of radioactive wastes have led to an increased emphasis
on solid radioactive waste disposal However, at this time doses to the public have
not increased during the handling or transportation of radioactive waste shipments.
Worldwide estimates also show that nuclear power will continue to grow and thus
remain a source of radioactivity exposure to the public.
 3) Biological effects of high-level wastes
Biological effects of radiation are typically divided into two categories. The first
category consists of exposure to high doses of radiation over short periods of time
producing acute or short term effects. The second category represents exposure
to low doses of radiation over an extended period of time producing chronic or
long term effects. High doses tend to kill cells, while low doses tend to damage
or change them. High doses can kill so many cells that tissues and organs are
damaged. This in turn may cause a rapid whole body response often called the
Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS). High dose effects are discussed on pages 6-
12 to 6- 16. Low doses spread out over long periods of time don’t cause an
immediate problem to any body organ. The effects of low doses of radiation occur
at the level of the cell, and the results may not be observed for many years.

4) Disposal of nuclear fuel

i. Decay in Storage (DIS)
ii. Dump to Sanitary Sewer
iii. Dispose as if not radioactive
iv. Geological disposal
v. Reprocessing
vi. Transmutation
vii. Space disposal
viii. Deep boreholes