Dealing with waste page 7   
                        2. Radioactive waste
Graph of radiation from wastes
Picture 14. The amount of radioactivity from the different types of waste over the next million years.
Nuclear waste volumes chart.
Interim surface storage
Picture 15. The interim surface store of encapsulated ILW at Sellafield.
Long-term waste management
We already have radioactive waste. And the volumes will grow over the next decade. This is inevitable because of the operation and decommissioning of existing nuclear power stations. Table 5 shows the volumes of existing waste and how quickly it is being produced.
Level Low
(LLW)		 Intermediate
(ILW)		 High
(HLW)
Stored at 2001
/cubic metres		 1,510,000. 237,000 1510
Annual rate of
production
/cubic metres		 10,000 to13,000 3610 60-70
Table 5. Volumes of different types of waste.

One way or another, we have to deal with this waste and find a way to dispose of it safely. There are a number of ideas being considered.

Safe disposal
All radioactive waste and materials have to be packaged securely. The following storage methods are being considered for radioactive waste and materials.
•  Interim surface storage in appropriate conditions Temporary storage at ground level; containers monitored (temperature, radiation, chemical leaks).
•  Interim underground storage in appropriate conditions Similar to interim surface storage, but in an underground facility.
•  Long-term surface storage in appropriate conditions Storage at ground level throughout the hazardous life of the waste.
•  Sea disposal* Containers of waste dumped at sea; packages must be sufficiently dense that they sink to the seabed.
•  Sub-sea bed disposal* Packages disposed of in a repository excavated under the sea bed.
•  Disposal in subduction zones* Containers of waste deposited in a zone where they will be carried further underground by the movement of tectonic plates.
•  Deep borehole disposal Containers of waste deposited in a borehole drilled deep into the ground; similar to previous deep disposal proposals.
•  Near surface disposal**
Shallow disposal** 		Containers deposited in a repository excavated at or below ground level.
•  Deep geological disposal in a range of geological environments Waste deposited deep underground; containers may need further packaging to avoid chemical corrosion by surrounding clays, salts etc.
•  Disposal in space *** Waste carried by rockets into space; unlikely to be cost-effective for large volumes of intermediate level waste

* currently ruled out by international treaties
** unsuitable for long-lived wastes
*** would require international cooperation

The following disposal methods have been considered and ruled out:

•  Rock-melting Requires highly active waste containers which are hot enough to melt their own way into rocks.
•  Disposal in ice-sheets Waste packages are not hot enough to melt their own way into ice.
•  Direct injection Solid wastes converted to slurry for injection into underground rock strata.
•  Transmutation Waste is irradiated with fast neutron beams, converting unstable isotopes into stable ones.
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