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Article

Nuclear Waste Management Worldwide

JUN 01, 1997
Numerous countries around the world are tackling the task of managing nuclear waste. By considering their approaches, we gain a broader perspective on the US program.
Charles McCombie

The proper management of radioactive wastes involves a broad array of activities. Residues must be minimized and conditioned; waste packages must be safely handled, transported and kept in interim storage prior to their safe disposal. Further major challenges arise in cleaning up sites that have been contaminated in the course of mining uranium, producing reactor fuel and fabricating nuclear weapons. Accomplishing these tasks requires not only the development and deployment of technological processes but also the solution of obstinate socioeconomic and organizational problems: Necessary resources must be made available and—most important—acceptable sites must be found for waste management facilities.

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References

  1. 1. National Research Council, The Disposal of Radioactive Waste on Land, NAS Publication No. 519, National Academy of Sciences—National Research Council, Washington, DC (1957).

  2. 2. Nuclear Energy Agency, Disposal of Radioactive Waste—Can Long‐term Safety Be Evaluated?—An International Collective Opinion, OECD, Paris (1991).

  3. 3. International Atomic Energy Agency, The Principles of Radioactive Waste Management, IAEA Safety Series No. 111‐F, IAEA, Vienna (1995).

  4. 4. Nuclear Energy Agency, The Environmental and Ethical Basis of Geological Disposal—A Collective Opinion of the Radioactive Waste Management Committee of the OECD/NEA, OECD, Paris (1995).

  5. 5. KBS/SKB, Final Storage of Spent Fuel—KBS‐3, Projekt Kärnbränslesäkerhet, Stockholm (1983).

  6. 6. P.‐E. Ahltström, in Geological Problems in Radioactive Waste Isolation: Second Worldwide Review, P. A. Witherspoon, ed., Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, Calif. (1996), p. 213.

  7. 7. Nagra, Projekt Gewähr 1985: Nuclear Waste Management in Switzerland—Feasibility Studies and Safety Analysis—Summary, Nagra Projekt Gewähr Report No. NGB 85‐09, Nagra, Baden, Switzerland (1985).

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

  9. 9. P. Slovic, Risk Analysis 13 (6), 675 (1993).

  10. 10. W. Miller, R. Alexander, N. Chapman, I. McKinley, J. Smellie, Natural Analogue Studies in the Geological Disposal of Radioactive Wastes, Nagra Technical Report No. NTB 93‐03, Nagra, Wettingen, Switzerland (1994).

More about the authors

Charles McCombie, Science and Technology, Nagra Wettingen, Switzerland.

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This Content Appeared In
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Volume 50, Number 6

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