The document discusses different types of nuclear waste, including from various parts of the nuclear fuel cycle, medical and industrial uses of nuclear materials, and naturally occurring radioactive materials. It then discusses some of the health and environmental risks posed by nuclear waste, providing examples of radioactive materials entering the body and causing cancer. The document concludes by describing a radiation incident in Delhi, India where cobalt-60 from an orphan source was dismantled in a scrap yard, exposing workers to radiation and causing injuries.

4. Uranium FRONT END : Waste from the front end is usually alpha emitting waste from the extraction of uranium. It often contains radium and its decay products. BACK END:

6. Waste from nuclear weapons decommissioning is unlikely to contain much beta or gamma activity other than tritium and americium . It is more likely to contain alpha-emitting actinides such as Pu-239 which is a fissile material used in bombs, plus some material with much higher specific activities, such as Pu-238 or Po.

10. Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) Coal : Coal contains a small amount of radioactive uranium, barium, thorium and potassium. Oil and gas : Residues from the oil and gas industry often contain radium and its daughters. The sulphate scale from an oil well can be very radium rich, while the water, oil and gas from a well often contain radon.

16. Mayapuri scrap market is a well known area of Delhi. There are around 200 scrap shops in the market. This area came into limelight when a radiation incident which makes five people seriously injured came in to existence.

19. A gamma irradiator no longer in use since 1985 in a chemistry laboratory at Delhi University was auctioned in a scrap market of Mayapuri in February 2010.The orphan source was sent to one of the many scrap yards existing at Mayapuri and dismantled by workers. During the demolishing operations to recover metal scraps, the lead shielding protecting the radioactive source was removed and the source itself damaged. And the Cobalt – 6o leaked into the environment.