nuclear-news

What is ‘low-level’ waste, and is it good* for you?

The nuclear-power lobby
San Antonio Current by Greg Harman 27 May 09

…………………………..What is ‘low-level’ waste, and is it good* for you?

So-called “low-level” radioactive waste is basically everything except the nuclear fuel, weapons waste, or uranium mill tailings from mining.

While “high-level” radioactive waste includes irradiated fuel, “low-level” waste includes everything from shoe covers, rags, and mops to irradiated nuke plant components and piping, control rods from reactor cores, and the poison curtains that soak up neutrons from reactor-core water.

Critics claims the term “low-level” is misleading, since these wastes can emit anywhere from one or two curies per cubic meter all the way to up to 5,000 curies per cubic meter.

Ultimately, entire nuclear power plants will be dismantled and buried as “low-level” nuclear waste.

Carcasses of animals “treated” with radioactive elements in pharmaceutical or medical research also need to be disposed of as low-level waste.

And scientific, medical, and some research waste also fall into this category. Most medical wastes decay within days or weeks, while wastes from nuclear power plants can remain deadly for hundreds, thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of years.

Sources: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Nuclear Information Resource Service, Ohio State University

*Not on your irradiated life.

http://sacurrent.com/news/story.asp?id=70184

May 28, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, environment | antinuclear, nuclear, radiation, radioactive, uranium