ENVIRONMENTAL

ENGINEERING
NUCLEAR WASTE

A Presentation By:
L001: Hitakshi Arora
L006: Yash Bhakkad
L007: Varun Borkar
L016: Shreya Jain

INTRODUCTION

What is Radioactivity?
The different kinds of radiation associated with radioactivity
are
1. Alpha radiation
2. Beta radiation
3. Gama radiation

WHAT IS ALPHA RADIATION?

Consists of particles (nuclei of helium atoms) carrying positive

charge

WHAT IS BETA RADIATION?

Consists of particles (stream of electrons)

carrying negative charge
. Types:
a) Beta plus
b) Beta minus

WHAT IS GAMMA RADIATION?

Charge less electromagnetic radiation with shorter

wavelength than electromagnetic radiation

TYPES OF NUCLEAR
WASTE?
Type of Nuclear Waste

Volume of waste

Radioactive Content

High-Level Waste

3%

95%

Intermediate-Level Waste

7%

4%

Low-Level Waste

90%

1%

SOURCES OF NUCLEAR
WASTE
1. Nuclear Fuel Cycle
a) Front End
b) Back End
2. Nuclear Waste Decommissioning
3. Legacy Waste
4. Medical Waste
5. Industrial Waste
6. Naturally Occurring

HALF LIFE TIME FOR

NUCLEAR WASTE

Half life time: half life is the period of time

required for substance undergoing decay to
decrease by half
Used to describe characteristics of unstable atom
Time required to decay unstable atom
Formula for half life in exponential decay:
Nt = no()( t / t )
-t

EFFECTS OF NUCLEAR
WASTE

Health Effects
Somatic effects

Effect is primarily suffered by the

individual exposed example: cancer

Genetics effects

Effect is suffered by the offspring of

the individual exposed

Teratogenic effects

Birth defects, parental death

Environmental Effects- Water Pollution, Impact on Forests &

Global Warming
B. L. Cohen, Ocean Dumping of High Level Waste Nuclear Technology 47 (1980)
Cl. B. L. Cohen, The Cancer Risk from Low Level Radiation, Health Physics 39(1981):659

EFFECTS OF NUCLEAR
WASTE

Biological effects of radiation

Dosage of Radiation

Effects

Less than 5 rad

No immediate Observable Effects

5 to 50 rad

Slight blood Changes may be

detected by medical evaluations

50 to 150 rad

Slight blood changes will be noted

& symptoms of nausea, fatigue,
vomiting, etc.

150 to 1100 rad

Severe blood changes will be noted

and symptoms appear immediately.

WASTE DISPOSAL
MANAGEMENT &
REGULATION

Waste management means the entire sequence of

operations starting with generations of waste and
ending with disposal.
Approaches to radioactive waste disposal(raw).

PRINCIPLES OF NUCLEAR
WASTE MANAGEMENT

DISCUSSION

GEOLOGICAL DUMPING
OCEAN DUMPING
SUBDUCTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
TRANSMUTATION OF HIGH LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE

SCOPE OF NUCLEAR
GROWTH IN INDIA

With signing nuclear deal ,the civilian nuclear

activities will be accelerated and the energy
generation from nuclear sources will be on a rise
With nuclear supplier group (NSG) supplying the
nuclear fuel the net growth of nuclear power will
be a boon to Indian economy as well as it reduces
the dependency on non renewable sources of
energy

RADIOACTIVE WASTE
MANAGEMENT IN INDIA

High efficiency particulate air (hepa) filters are used to minimize air
borne radioactivity
Trombay, Tarapur, Kakrapara, Narora, Hyderabad and Jaduguda are
some of setup of radioactive waste management
Electricity generation by nuclear means can be regarded as minimum
measure of radioactive waste
On scale of nuclear share of electricity India ranks 4th from bottom in
about 30 countries

TREATMENT

RECOMMENDATION FOR
SOLVING NUCLEAR
WASTE PROBLEM

There are various method recommended for

nuclear waste management, in which seabed
disposal is one of them
Seabed disposal is different from sea dumping
which does not involve isolation of low level
radioactive waste within a geological stratum

RECOMMENDATION
FOR SOLVING WASTE
MANAGEMENT

Whether
migration of
radioactive
elements through
the ocean floor is
at the same rate
as early
measured in lab

What is the effect

of nuclear heat
on the deep
oceanic clays?

What is effect on
the deep oceanic
fauna and water
above?

CONCLUSION

Nuclear waste requires sophisticated treatment

and management to successfully isolate it from
interacting with the biosphere
This usually necessitates treatment, followed by
long term management strategy involving
storage, disposal or transformation of nuclear
waste into non-toxic form

REFERENCES

CE S. Budiansky and J. Josephson, Waste Disposal Chemistry,

Environmental
Science Technology 14, no, 5 (1980):508.

Plecas, I.,Peric, A., Drljaca, J., Kostadinovic, A."Leaching

Behavior of 137 Cs in Cement", J.Radioanal.Nucl.Chem., Lett.,
154 ,309-317. (1991)
Sludge Disposal, Environmental Science and Technology 10, no. 12,
(1976):1147
M. A. Callahan, etal., Water Related Fate of129 Priority Pollutants, vol. 1,
EPA-440/4-79-O29a, 2, EPA-440/4-79-029b, December
http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclearwastes/radioactive-waste-management.aspx

THANK YOU