Low-level-waste management

Low-Level-Radioactive-Waste (LLW) is generated by a wide variety of governmental, industrial and institutional operations. Government-generated waste is disposed of at Department of Energy (DOE) facilities on federal lands; nongovernment waste, at three commercial facilities (Hanford, Washington; Beatty, Nevada; and Barnwell, South Carolina). LLW is normally disposed of by burying it in shallow land trenches. To date, the health hazards of waste already buried have been judged minimal and can be expected to pose no major threat to human health. The storage, treatment, and disposal of LLW involves little, if any, high technology. Land must be set aside for long periods of time, however, to isolate various radionuclides from the environment. Disposal capacity at two of the three operating commercial facilities will be exhausted between 1984 and 1989. Reducing waste volumes and classifying waste according to hazard will extend the lifetimes of existing sites; however, new sites must be developed. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1980 supports the policy of each state's being responsible for managing its own waste and of LLW being most safely and efficiently managed on a regional basis. It also authorizes states participating in regional LLW management compacts to exclude from disposal any waste originating inmore » nonparticipating states after 1985. The primary issues to consider in a comprehensive low level waste management program are: (1) Institutional - allocation and coordination of regulatory responsibilities among federal, state, and local entities; public/private sector roles and responsibilities in disposal, transport, and treatment of low level waste; public participation in siting and licensing procedures; (2) Economic - funding mechanisms for extended care and maintenance of closed facilities; and (3) Social - public perception of risks involved with managing low level waste.« less