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Article

Hazards of Managing and Disposing of Nuclear Waste

JUN 01, 1997
When we bury long‐lived nuclear wastes in geologic repositories, we have to worry about what may happen ten thousand—or even a million—years in the future.
William E. Kastenberg
Luca J. Gratton

Although it is arguably for the benefit of society, the translation of basic nuclear processes into technological achievements produces nuclear wastes that can become environmental hazards if they are not properly cared for. Light‐element fusion, heavy‐element fission and radioactive decay have provided us with nuclear weapons, nuclear power plants and nuclear medicine. But they all produce radioactive materials that are unusable, no longer needed, or unwanted. Ultimately, these materials require long‐term isolation from the biosphere.

This article is only available in PDF format

References

  1. 1. League of Women Voters Education Fund, The Nuclear Waste Primer, Lyons & Burford, New York (1993).

  2. 2. US Department of Energy and Washington State Department of Ecology, Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Tank Waste Remediation System, Washington DC (1996).

  3. 3. US Department of Energy, “The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: Compliance Certification Application,” submitted to EPA, October 1996.

  4. 4. S. C. Cohen, Supplement 2 in Review of the WIPP Draft Application to Show Compliance with EPA Transuranic Waste Disposal Standards, Environmental Evaluation Group of the State of New Mexico, DOE/AL/58309‐61, Albuquerque, NM (1996).

  5. 5. R. Neill, L. Chaturvedi, W. Lee, T. Clemo, M. Silva, J. Kenney, W. Bartlett, B. Walker, Review of the WIPP Draft Application to Show Compliance with EPA Transuranic Waste Disposal Standards, Environmental Evaluation Group of the State of New Mexico, DOE/AL/58309‐61, Albuquerque, NM (1996).

  6. 6. TRW, Total System Performance Assessment—1995: An Evaluation of the Potential Yucca Mountain Repository, Civilian Radioactive Waste Management System, B00000000‐01717‐2200‐00136, Revision 01 (1995).

  7. 7. R. Rechard, ed., Sandia National Laboratories report SAND94‐2563/1 (1995).

  8. 8. C. Bowman, F. Venneri, Los Alamos National Laboratory report LA‐UR‐94‐4022A (1995).

  9. 9. W. Kastenberg, P. Peterson, J. Ahn, J. Burch, G. Casher, P. Chambre, E. Greenspan, D. Olander, J. Vujic, B. Bessinger, N. Cook, F. Doyle, L. Hilbert, Nucl. Technology 115, 298 (1996).

  10. 10. W. Myers, W. Stratton, R. Kimpland, R. Sanchez, R. Anderson, Transact. Am. Nucl. Soc. and Eur. Nucl. Soc. 75, 214 (1996).

  11. 11. C. G. Whipple, Scientific American, June 1996, p. 72.

  12. 12. M. L. Wilson et al., Sandia National Laboratories report SAND93‐2675 (1994).

  13. 13. R. P. Rechard, Sandia National Laboratories report SAND93‐1378 (1995).

  14. 14. National Research Council, Technical Bases for Yucca Mountain Standards, National Academy Press, Washington, DC (1995).

More about the authors

William E. Kastenberg, University of California, Berkeley.

Luca J. Gratton, University of California, Berkeley.

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This Content Appeared In
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Volume 50, Number 6

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