Table of Contents
Preface vii
1 Radiation and Exposure 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 The Half-Life 2
1.3 Modes of Radioactive Decay 3
1.4 Exposure and Dosimetry 5
1.4.1 Dose 5
1.4.2 Equivalent Dose 5
1.4.3 Effective Dose Equivalent 7
1.4.4 Shallow- and Deep-Dose Equivalent 8
1.4.5 Collective Effective Dose 8
1.5 Exposure and Biological Responses 9
1.6 Background Ionizing Radiation 12
1.7 Minimizing Exposure to Ionizing Radiation 14
1.8 Radiation Attenuation 15
1.9 Shielding Applied to Radioactive Wastes 18
1.10 Review Questions 20
Bibliography 22
2 Radionuclides in Groundwater 25
2.1 Introduction 25
2.2 Radionuclides in Solution 25
2.3 Reactions between Radionuclides and Groundwater 29
2.4 Precipitation and Dissolution Reactions 31
2.5 Sorption and Desorption Reactions 32
2.6 Hydrogeology of Groundwater 36
2.6.1 Hydraulic Conductivity 37
2.6.2 Transport by Diffusion 38
2.6.3 Transport by Advection 39
2.6.4 Transport by Dispersion 40
2.6.5 Transport by Advection-Dispersion-Reaction 40
2.6.6 Transport by Stochastic Models 41
2.7 Groundwater Monitoring 42
2.8 Review Questions 43
Bibliography 45
3 Uranium and Thorium Resources and Wastes 47
3.1 Uranium 47
3.1.1 Introduction 47
3.1.2 Global Abundance and Mining 48
3.1.3 Uranium Quality 51
3.1.4 Geological Modes of Occurrence of Uranium 52
3.1.5 Uranium Minerals 54
3.1.6 The Longevity of Uranium as a Fuel 55
3.1.7 Uranium-Related Wastes 57
3.2 Thorium 59
3.2.1 Introduction 59
3.2.2 Global Abundance and Geological Modes of Occurrence 59
3.2.3 Thorium as a Potential Fuel 61
3.2.4 Undesirable Side Reactions 63
3.2.5 Thorium Drivers 64
3.2.6 Thorium-based Spent Fuel 66
3.3 Review Questions 68
Bibliography 69
4 Low-Level Radioactive Wastes in the United States 73
4.1 Introduction 73
4.2 Protection from Low-Level Radioactive Wastes 76
4.3 Low-Level Radioactive Waste Classification 77
4.4 Additional Radioactive Materials and Wastes 80
4.4.1 Exempt 81
4.4.2 Source Material 81
4.4.3 Special Nuclear Material 81
4.4.4 Low-Level Radioactive Waste 81
4.4.5 Mixed Wastes 82
4.4.6 Low-Activity Radioactive Waste (LARW) 82
4.4.7 Residual Radioactive Material (RRM) 83
4.5 Potential Revisions of 10 CFR Part 61 83
4.6 Early LLRW Disposal 84
4.6.1 Beatty, Nevada 85
4.6.2 Maxey Flats, Kentucky 87
4.6.3 West Valley, New York 90
4.6.4 Richland, Washington 91
4.6.5 Sheffield, Illinois 91
4.6.6 Barnwell, South Carolina 93
4.6.7 Clive, Utah 95
4.7 Low-Level Radioactive Wastes Compacts 97
4.8 The Texas Compact Disposal Facility 98
4.9 Greater Than Class C Wastes 99
4.10 US DOE Low-Level Radioactive Wastes 100
4.11 Review Questions 101
Bibliography 102
5 Management of Used Nuclear Fuel 105
5.1 Introduction 105
5.2 Ocean Disposal 106
5.3 Wet-Pool Disposal 111
5.4 Dry Cask Storage 113
5.4.1 Canister 113
5.4.2 Transfer Cask 114
5.4.3 Storage Cask 114
5.4.4 Transport Cask 114
5.4.5 Dual-Use Cask 114
5.5 Reprocessing and Advanced Separation Technology 119
5.5.1 The Bismuth Phosphate Process 119
5.5.2 PUREX 120
5.5.3 Advanced Versions of PUREX 122
5.5.4 Pyre-processing 123
5.6 Review Questions 124
Bibliography 125
6 Geological Repositories 127
6.1 Introduction 127
6.2 Natural Analogues of a Geological Repository 129
6.3 Repositories Used for Low-Level, Intermediate-Level, and Transuranic Radioactive Wastes 134
6.4 Repositories for Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Wastes 143
6.4.1 The US Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository 143
6.4.2 The Kingdom of Sweden 148
6.4.3 Republic of Finland 150
6.4.4 French Republic 152
6.4.5 Canada 153
6.4.6 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 154
6.4.7 The Deep-Borehole Repository 154
6.5 Review Questions 156
Bibliography 157
7 Managing Decommissioning Wastes 163
7.1 Introduction 163
7.2 Decontamination 166
7.3 Chemical Decontamination 170
7.3.1 Strong Inorganic or Mineral Acids 170
7.3.2 Organic Acids and Chelation Agents 172
7.3.3 Oxidizing and Reduction (Redox) Agents 174
7.3.4 Combined-Treatment Processes 175
7.3.5 Foams, Gels, and Strippable Coatings 178
7.4 Physical Decontamination 180
7.4.1 Loose-Surface Contaminants 180
7.4.2 Fixed-Surface Contaminants 180
7.4.3 Fixed-Subsurface Contaminants 182
7.5 Three Case Studies of Nuclear Facility Decommissioning 184
7.5.1 The Nuclear Research Reactor Facility 184
7.5.2 The Connecticut Yankee Nuclear Power Plant 189
7.5.3 The Oskarshamn Nuclear Power Plant, Sweden 194
7.6 Review Questions 196
Bibliography 197
8 Transportation of Radioactive Materials 201
8.1 Introduction 201
8.2 Radiological Characterization of Waste Packages 202
8.2.1 Low-Specific Activity (LSA) 202
8.2.2 Surface Contaminated Object (SCO) 203
8.2.3 Transport Index (TI) 204
8.2.4 Critically Safety Index (CSI) 205
8.3 Shipping Packages 205
8.3.1 Excepted Package 205
8.3.2 Industrial Package 206
8.3.3 The Type A Package 207
8.3.4 The Type B Package 208
8.3.5 The Type C Package 211
8.4 Transportation Planning in the Midwestern US 213
8.5 Transportation Labeling 216
8.6 Risk Assessments in Transporting Radioactive Materials 217
8.7 Transportation of Radioactive Materials in Europe 218
8.8 Marine Transportation of Radioactive Materials 220
8.9 Review Questions 221
Bibliography 221
9 Environmental Restoration in the United States 223
9.1 Introduction 223
9.2 The Grand Junction (Colorado) Sites 225
9.3 The Rifle (Colorado) Sites 229
9.4 The Weldon Spring (Missouri) Site Remedial
Action Project 231
9.5 The Fernald Preserve (Ohio) 235
9.6 The Hanford Site (Washington) 238
9.7 Review Questions 242
Bibliography 243
10 International Management of Radioactive Wastes 247
10.1 Kingdom of Belgium 247
10.1.1 Status of Nuclear Energy 247
10.1.2 Waste Management 248
10.2 Federative Republic of Brazil 250
10.2.1 Status of Nuclear Energy 250
10.2.2 Waste Management 251
10.3 Canada 252
10.3.1 Status of Nuclear Energy 252
10.3.2 Waste Management 252
10.4 The People's Republic of China 255
10.4.1 Status of Nuclear Energy 255
10.4.2 Waste Management 255
10.5 Czech Republic 257
10.5.1 Status of Nuclear Energy 257
10.5.2 Waste Management 258
10.6 Republic of Finland 259
10.6.1 Status of Nuclear Energy 259
10.6.2 Waste Management 260
10.7 French Republic 261
10.7.1 Status of Nuclear Energy 261
10.7.2 Waste Management 261
10.8 Federal Republic of Germany 265
10.8.1 Status of Nuclear Energy 265
10.8.2 Waste Management 266
10.9 Japan 267
10.9.1 Status of Nuclear Energy 267
10.9.2 Waste Management 267
10.10 Russian Federation 270
10.10.1 Status of Nuclear Energy 270
10.10.2 Waste Management 271
10.11 Kingdom of Sweden 272
10.11.1 Status of Nuclear Energy 272
10.11.2 Waste Management 273
10.12 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 277
10.12.1 Status of Nuclear Energy 277
10.12.2 Waste Management 277
10.13 Review Questions 280
Bibliography 280
Appendix A Glossary of Technical Terms 285
Appendix B The International Atomic Energy Agency Classification of Radioactive Wastes 291
Index 295
