Hazardous Waste : Radioactive Materials

There are two major categories of nuclear waste. High-level waste (HLW) and low-level waste (LLW). HLW has high amounts of radioactive materials in a small volume, and it also contains radionuclides with long half-lives .HLW is mainly composed of spent fuel and waste generated by military applications; on the other hand, LLW is generated from mining and excavation activities. [2].

Identified wastes in the current processes using the seven wastes as a guide to what should be looked for. The question was asked, “Why did this waste occur?” and, “What can be done to prevent it?”.

Nuclear waste is a by-product of the uranium enrichment process and the operation of nuclear power plants. One of the most common radioactive isotopes found in nuclear waste is plutonium-239, which is capable of causing cancer-related fatalities for millions of people in very small amounts. Other isotopes include iodine-129, cesium-137, and uranium-238, all of which are highly radioactive and have half-lives in the tens of

While reading Richard A. Muller Nuclear Waste a professor of physics from the University of California. I really enjoyed the reading and learning how nuclear waste “is one of the biggest technical issues that any president is likely to face”. In this chapter he also spoke of Plutonium which is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with symbol Pu and atomic number 94. Richard also went on to say that there is a “safe” nuclear waste disposal located in Yucca Mountain, Nevada. In order to keep the waste disposal safe, it is buried in a storage room in which is 1000 feet below the surface.

2. Nuclear Waste Disposal – Again a massive problem as the spent Nuclear Rods of Nuclear Reactors are prohibitively costly and difficult to dispose of. Spent nuclear fuel is initially very highly radioactive and so must be handled with great care and forethought. (10'000 years according to United States Environmental Protection Agency standards).There is no foolproof way to dispose nuclear waste fuel after it is used in the Nuclear Reactors. The area around Nuclear Waste Sites can be dangerous to humans for hundreds of year as complex nuclear elements have half lives running into many years. The United States had accumulated more than 50,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel from nuclear reactors. Permanent storage underground in U.S. had been proposed at the Yucca but that project has now been effectively cancelled. There is presently no adequate safe long-term storage for radioactive and chemical waste

The definition of low-level waste is negative. Meaning, commercial radioactive wastes that do not fall under the category for high-level wastes, or uranium and thorium milling wastes, are classified as low-level radioactive waste (NRC 2015c). The low-level wastes can

Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2001The three bins shown in Fig 12 are used to dispose of the recyclables and organics in common. In the airport construction, there is a central waste area at which the waste (including recyclables and organics) is stored. Stockpiles and bins are used for storing, which are labelled and monitored. The typical 3 Bin garbage system is located throughout the community elsewhere. The first type is yellow bin, which is used for collecting recyclables. And the second one is a green bin for green waste. The last one is red bin.

Nuclear and toxic waste have slowly crept its way up to the main priority of disposal agencies all over the country and the world, as the scientists have created new chemicals and, militaries have created nuclear warheads able to destroy entire cities. Anything that is categorized as Toxic waste is “poisonous” to humans, and the environment. Nuclear waste usually can be anything that has been exposed to gamma radiation from nuclear power plants or a nuclear explosion. The U.S. alone has

Iodine-131 is radioactive iodine with an eight day half-life, resulting in a large amount of absorption in the thyroid gland (Alcalay, 2011). Cesium-137 is similar to potassium with a 30 year half-life which concentrates in muscle, and is found in contaminated soil and food grown in these areas (Alcalay, 2011). Strontium-90 is similar to calcium, with a 28 year half-life which concentrates in bone, soil and ground water (Alcalay, 2011). Plutonium-239 is deemed as one of the greatest toxins found on earth with a half-life of 24,000 years (Alcalay, 2011). If strontium-90 is absorbed it is known to cause cancer and now it is, unfortunately, in the soil and ground water of the Marshall Islands (Alcalay,

I went on the Richard G. Trefry Library and searched about hazardous waste and came across a book entitled “Risks of Hazardous Wastes” by Paul E. Rosenfeld and Lydia G. H. Feng. It could be found at URL: http://library.books24x7.com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/toc.aspx?site=NCNIO&bookid=41877. The book provides information about sources and health risks posed by as well explains the regulations surrounding

The particular case study in review was an incident involving a waste Mercury reclaiming facility which contaminated the surrounding area to include a body of water. Any form of hazardous material contamination to the environment is a serious issue that should be taken with immediate serious reactions. Anytime a hazardous material is handled, moreover one that has been expended from its primary use should come with the automatic question of how proper disposal must be conducted. There is generally zero excuse for openly dumping a non-natural substance, let alone a waste product into nature. Operations dealing with hazardous chemicals need to use common sense and good housekeeping despite any delay in production or efficiency when results can have detrimental impacts to the environment furthermore the good standings of their operation.

While working in SIMDS, I was expected to know how to correctly dispose of the different waste products within the laboratories to maintain a clean and safe environment. The disposal system consisted of three main bin types. These included the biological contamination bins, chemical waste bins, sharps bins, confidential waste bins and the domestic waste bin. All these different types of bins were expected to contain a specific items.

Radioactive waste. What is it? Radioactive waste is what the name says it is; radioactive and waste. Basically, it is anything that has been exposed to a radioactive nuclear substance and is not in use of anyone anymore so it is declared as trash. Also bear in mind that any definitions or information varies in different countries. Now, there are many different types of waste, ranging from the least amount of hazard to the greatest amount of hazard. The ones with the least amount of radioactivity tend to have shorter lives. They decay in less than 30 years and are called, “short-lived”. The ones with a greater amount of radioactivity perish in more than 30 years and are called, “long-lived”. Let’s break these types of wastes into three parts. Low-level waste (LLW), Intermediate-level waste (ILW), and High-level waste (HLW).

Congress passed The Solid Waste Disposal Act in 1965. The Agency of Environmental Safety considered this Act as the primary effort made by federal authority for efficient waste clearance technology. This act controls the dumping material; manage storage and management of solid, both and non-precarious and precarious wastage. It highlights the processes that are environmentally liable to dispose waste at the commercial, municipal, industrial and household levels (Tchobanoglous & Vergara, 2010). This was considered as primary initiative of a chain of systems focusing on resource management and air cleaning (Gerlak, 2005). There have been several major adjustments made to the Act with the reference to Resource Recovery and Conservation Act (1976). The involvement of federal

The Generation of hazardous waste by the human activities increase the risk of the damage to the environment and the human health. These create a very negative impact if not disposed properly. In the state of Illinois the implementation of the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is referred to as hazardous waste. This act consists of the changes to the Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1956 and signed into the law of 1976. The regulations related to the implementation of