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Radioactive waste, arising from civilian nuclear activities as well as from defence-related nuclear-weapon activities, poses a formidable problem for handling and protecting the environment to be safe to the present and future generations. As nuclear power and arsenal grow, continuous monitoring and immobilization of the waste over several decades and centuries and deposition in safe repositories, assumes great relevance and importance.
Just as per capita consumption of electricity is related to the standard of living in a country, the electricity generation by nuclear means can be regarded as a minimum measure of radioactive waste that is generated by a country and hence the related magnitude of radioactive waste management. On the scale of nuclear share of electricity generation, India ranks fourth from the bottom in about 30 countries.Hence the magnitude of radioactive waste management in India could be miniscule compared to that in other countries, especially when one takes into account the nuclear arsenal already in stockpile in the nuclear weapons countries.
Radioactive waste management has been an integral part of the entire nuclear fuel cycle in India. Concern for the environment and establishment of radiation protection goals have been among the major priorities in planning of India's nuclear energy programme. In the Indian nuclear fuel cycle, right from inception, a closed loop option has been adopted where spent fuel is reprocessed to recover plutonium and unused uranium. The emphasis has been to recover actinides, individual fission products and recycle them back to the fuel cycle or use them for various industrial applications. The development of innovative treatment processes for low and intermediate level wastes in recent times has focused on volume reduction as one of the main objectives. In the case of high-level liquid waste, vitrification in borosilicate matrix is being practiced using induction heated metallic melters at industrial scale plants at Tarapur and Trombay.
Radioactive waste Radioactive wastes are generated during various operations of the nuclear fuel cycle. Mining, nuclear power generation, and various processes in industry, defense, medicine and scientific research produce byproducts that include radioactive wastes. Radioactive waste can be in gas, liquid or solid form, and its level of radioactivity can vary. The waste can remain radioactive for a few hours or several months or even hundreds of thousands of years.
Classification: Depending on the level and nature of radioactivity, radioactive wastes can be classified as exempt waste, Low & Intermediate level waste and High Level Waste.
Low and Intermediate level (LIL): Low level nuclear waste usually includes material used to handle the highly radioactive parts of nuclear reactors (i.e. cooling water pipes and radiation suits) and waste from medical procedures involving radioactive treatments or x-rays.
High Level Waste: High level radioactive liquid waste (HLW) containing most (~99%) of the radioactivity in the entire fuel cycle is produced during reprocessing of spent fuel.
Issue of the long lived radioactive waste has been the focal point of debate for the success of nuclear power. Planning for management of HL waste thus takes into account the need for their effective isolation from the biosphere and their continuous surveillance for extended periods of time spanning several generations. To meet this objective in the long term, waste isolation systems comprising multiple barriers are employed so as to prevent the movement of radionuclides back to the human environment.
Management of radiation wastes In consideration to the primary objective of protecting human health, environment and future generations, the overall philosophy for safe management of radioactive wastes in India, is based on the concept of *Delay and Delay *Dilute and Disperse *Concentrate and Contain. Effective management involves segregation, characterization, handling, treatment, conditioning and monitoring prior to final disposal. Proper disposal is essential to ensure protection of the health and safety of the public and quality of the environment including air, soil, and water supplies.
Radiological hazards associated with short lived wastes <30 years half life get significantly reduced over a few hundred years by radioactive decay. The high level wastes contain large concentration of both short and long lived radionuclide’s, warranting high degree of isolation from the biosphere and usually calls for final disposal into geological formation (repository)
A key idea was that long-term disposal would be best carried out by identifying suitable sites at which the waste could be buried, a process called deep geological disposal
Low level waste is comparatively easy to dispose of. The level of radioactivity and the half life of the radioactive isotopes in low level waste are relatively small. Storing the waste for a period of 10 to 50 years will allow most of the radioactive isotopes in low level waste to decay, at which point the waste can be disposed of as normal refuse.
In Solid waste substantial amount of LIL wastes of diverse nature, gets generated in different nuclear installations. Treatment and conditioning of solid wastes are practiced, to reduce the waste volume in ways, compatible to minimizing the mobility of the contained radioactive materials. A wide range of treatment and conditioning processes are available today with mature industrial operations involving several interrelated steps and diverse technologies. A brief summary of the various radioactive waste management practices followed in India has been presented below.
By: Dr. Vivek Rana ProfileResourcesReport error
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