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 What are radioactive wastes? Radioactive waste can be solid, liquid, or gaseous waste that contains radionuclides.
Listed below are different definitions of radioactive wastes:
- Depleted Uranium (DU) is, according to the to the Military Toxins Project, the
radioactive byproduct of the uranium enrichment process, is "roughly 60% as
radioactive as naturally occurring uranium and has a half-life of 4.5 billion years."
The United States has in excess of 1.1 billion pounds of DU waste material. Using uranium
as a fuel in the types of nuclear reactors common in the United States requires that the
uranium be enriched so that the percentage of U235 is increased, typically to 3 to 5%. To
enrich uranium, a process called gaseous diffusion was developed by the United States in
the 1940s. The gaseous diffusion process creates two products: enriched uranium
hexafluoride, and depleted uranium hexafluoride (depleted UF6). The DU decay chain
includes hazardous radioactive thorium, radium, radon, the radon "daughters" and
lead. The Department of Energy plans to recycle massive quantities of 1,250,000,000 pounds
of DU into the commercial marketplace for reuse in consumer goods. Read
- An International Appeal to Ban the
Use of Depleted Uranium Weapons drafted by Ramsey Clark.
- High-level waste (HLW) is
highly radioactive material from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. HLW includes
spent nuclear fuel, liquid waste, and solid waste derived from the liquid. HLW contains
elements that decay slowly and remain radioactive for hundreds or thousands of years. HLW
must be handled by remote-control from behind protective shielding to protect workers.
- Legacy Waste at Los Alamos.
Low Level Radioactive Waste (LLW) is any radioactive waste not
classified as high-level waste, transuranic waste, or uranium mill tailings. LLW often
contains small amounts of radioactivity dispersed in large amounts of material. It is
generated by uranium enrichment processes, reactor operations, isotope production, medical
procedures, and research and development activities. LLW is usually made up of rags,
papers, filters, tools, equipment, discarded protective clothing, dirt, and construction
rubble contaminated with radionuclides. Read
- Status and Issues of Low-Level
Radioactive (LLRW) Mangement by the Task Force's Dr. Judith Johnsrud. Also,
- Mission Waste at Los Alamos.
- Mixed Waste is defined as radioactive waste contaminated with hazardous waste regulated
by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). A large portion of DOE's mixed waste
is mixed low-level waste found in soils. No mixed waste can be disposed of without
complying with RCRA's requirements for hazardous waste and meeting RCRA's Land Disposal
Restrictions, which require waste to be treated before disposal in appropriate landfills.
Meeting regulatory requirements and resolving mixed waste questions related to different
regulations is one of DOE's most significant waste management challenges.
Sludge, Our Newest Rad Waste:
- Sewage sludge is what is
left over after raw sewage has been treated at the wastewater treatment plants. Water
and many of the contaminants are removed from the raw sewage; Bacteria are then left
to do the job of reducing human waste, leaving a concentrated semi-solid sludge cake. In
the past, wastewater treatment plants paid to for disposal of sludge in landfills or
through incineration. Over one third of the 5.3 million metric tons of sewage sludge
produced each year in the US is now dumped on farmland and forestland. Sludge isn't just
"fertilizer." Heavy metals, parasites (and other pathogens), chemicals such as
chlorine can all be contained in sewage sludge. But the 503 regs don't include testing or
treatment for radioactivity in sludge, which can originate from industry, the medical
profession and labs.
- Read a little Toxic Sludge is Good for You.
- Spent Nuclear Fuel Nuclear reactors burn uranium fuel creating a chain reaction that
produces energy. Over time, as the uranium fuel is burned, it reaches the point where it
no longer contributes efficiently to the chain reaction. Once the fuel reaches that point
it is considered spent. Spent nuclear fuel is thermally hot and highly radioactive.
- Transuranic (TRU) Waste contains human-made elements heavier than uranium that emit
alpha radiation. TRU waste is produced during reactor fuel assembly, weapons fabrication,
and chemical processing operations. It decays slowly and requires long-term isolation. TRU
waste can include protective clothing, equipment, and tools.
- Uranium Mill Tailings are
by-products of uranium mining and milling operations.
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