This book describes repository solutions for all types of radioactive waste and residues in different geotechnical repository structures. The focus is initially on existing or planned final disposal sites in Germany and the process of finding sites. However, international comparisons are drawn, especially to locations in the US. This affects both the repository structures and the legal requirements. The radioactive substances considered include residues from uranium ore processing, as well as low and intermediate level radioactive waste up to heat generating, high level radioactive wastes, such as spent fuel and vitrified waste from reprocessing. In order to evaluate the repository structures and their inventories, a dimensionless radiotoxicity index Ai / Fi [activity of radionuclide quantity (Ai) related to the exemption limit of radionuclide (Fi)] has been introduced. This gives the reader a well-founded overview of the degree of inconsistency in the handling of safety requirements for the respective geotechnical environmental structures. This creates the necessary transparency on this issue, which has not been previously available and is required by stakeholders today. The long-term security, the duration of the observation period and the certainty of the safety prognosis are also discussed in the book as well as the participation of subsequent generations in current and possible future repositories. This is vital as nuclear energy will continue to be used worldwide in the long term. The international repository projects presented have all been subjected to the same evaluation criteria. This applies both to existing operational project as well as those about to be commissioned and the processes for seeking locations. Special attention has been paid to monitoring, both operational and long-term monitoring. This broad range of topics makes this book a very valuable read for both the interested public and the professional world.

Radioactive waste (above all highly radioactive wastes from nuclear installations) caused by research, medicine and technology must be disposed of safely. However both the strategies disputed for the disposal of radioactive waste as well as concrete proposals for choosing a location for final waste disposal are highly debatable. An appropriate disposal must conform to both complex, technical requirements and fulfill the radio-biological conditions to appropriately protect man and nature. Ethical, legal and social conditions must also be considered. An interdisciplinary team from various, relevant fields compiled the current status-quo and developed criteria and strategies, which on the one hand meet the requirements of optimal warning and prevention of risk for present and future generations, and additionally on the other hand meet the needs of what current society agrees what is expected to be allowed. This study can be understood as an advanced and continuing contribution to the corresponding scientific specialized debates, due to its interdisciplinary treatment. At the same time it serves as a fundamentally informing contribution to public and political debates, offering an easily comprehensible executive summary and precise content recommendations.

This "objective" report, originally prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy, tells the glowing, happy story of nuclear waste disposal in America. The fourth edition has been updated to include the latest legislative and technical changes. It begins by explaining what radioactivity is and goes on to explore the merits of various methods of disposal and the use of licensing and regulation as forms of protection. Filled with graphs, tables, diagrams, and black and white photos. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Safety and environmental impact is of uppermost concern when dealing with the movement and storage of nuclear waste. The 20 chapters in 'An Introduction to Nuclear Waste Immobilisation' cover all important aspects of immobilisation, from nuclear decay, to regulations, to new technologies and methods. Significant focus is given to the analysis of the various matrices used in transport: cement, bitumen and glass, with the greatest attention being given to glass. The last chapter concentrates on the performance assessment of each matrix, and on new developments of ceramics and glass composite materials, thermochemical methods and in-situ metal matrix immobilisation. The book thoroughly covers all issues surrounding nuclear waste: from where to locate nuclear waste in the environment, through nuclear waste generation and sources, treatment schemes and technologies, immobilisation technologies and waste forms, disposal and long term behaviour. Particular attention is paid to internationally approved and worldwide-applied approaches and technologies.* Each chapter focuses on a different matrix used in nuclear waste immobilisation: Cement, bitumen, glass and new materials.* Keeps the most important issues surrounding nuclear waste – such as treatment schemes and technologies, and disposal - at the forefront.

The perception of radioactive waste as a major problem for the industrial world has developed only recently. Four decades ago the disposal of such waste was regarded as a relatively minor matter. Those were the heady days when nuclear fission seemed the answer to the world's energy needs: the two wartime bombs had demonstrated its awesome power, and now it was to be harnessed for the production of electricity, the excavation of canals, even the running of cars and airplanes. In all applications of fission some waste containing radioactive elements would be generated of course, but it seemed only a trivial annoyance, a problem whose solution could be deferred until the more exciting challenges of constructing reactors and devising more efficient weapons had been mastered. So waste accumulated, some in tanks and some buried in shallow trenches. These were recognized as only temporary, makeshift measures, because it was known that the debris would be hazardous to its surroundings for many thousands of years and hence that more permanent disposal would someday be needed. The difficulty of accomplishing this more lasting disposal only gradually became apparent. The difficulty has been compounded by uncertainty about the physiological effects oflow-Ievel radiation, by the inadequacy of detailed knowledge about the behavior of engineered and geologic materials over long periods under unusual conditions, and by the sensitization of popular fears about radiation in all its forms following widely publicized reactor accidents and leaks from waste storage sites.

Over the past decade significant progress has been achieved in the development of waste characterization and control procedures and equipment as a direct response to ever-increasing requirements for quality and reliability of information on waste characteristics. Failure in control procedures at any step can have important, adverse consequences and may result in producing waste packages which are not compliant with the waste acceptance criteria for disposal, thereby adversely impacting the repository. The information and guidance included in this publication corresponds to recent achievements and reflects the optimum approaches, thereby reducing the potential for error and enhancing the quality of the end product. -- Publisher's description.