Management of Radioactive Waste

The classification of radioactive waste varies from state to state. This results in different management procedures for each country, while following IAEA and OECD/NEA recommendations.<br /><br />Radioactive waste comes from numerous sources. The largest volumes are generated by the decommissioning and dismantling of nuclear facilities. Long-lived, medium- and high-activity waste – categorized as the most hazardous types of waste – are in fact largely produced by nuclear power reactors, spent fuel reprocessing plants and nuclear accidents.<br /><br />Final disposal of very low-activity, low-activity and very short-lived waste is well controlled. However, final solutions for certain categories, including long-lived waste, sorted waste and spent graphite waste, are not yet in place.<br /><br /><i>Management of Radioactive Waste</i> reviews all the possible solutions and presents those chosen by the various states, including a chapter detailing policy on radioactive waste management, taking France as an example.