Management of commercially generated radioactive wastes

Abstract

A recently released environmental impact statement on the state of the art technologies and environmental impacts associated with waste disposal in mined geological repositories is reviewed. The use of predisposal systems either to decrease the level of radioactivity in the wastes or to confine the radioactivity in a form suitable for disposal is discussed. Utilization of mined geologic respositories for disposal of commercially generated high-level and trasuranic radioactive wastes is one of the three main courses of action examined. Wastes would be buried 600-1000 m below the surface and protected by a series of independent barriers. Environmental impacts associated with the repositories are outlined.