This sort of hazardous garbage includes radioactive substances known as radioactive waste. Nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power production, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons reprocessing all produce radioactive waste. Government authorities control the storage and disposal of radioactive waste to safeguard both human health and the environment. In general, it is divided into low-level waste (LLW), intermediate-level waste (ILW), and high-level waste (HLW). LLW includes things like paper and rags; ILW includes things like tools and clothing, and HLW includes things like highly radioactive and hot decay heat that requires cooling and shielding. In general, it is divided into low-level waste (LLW), intermediate-level waste (ILW), and high-level waste (HLW). LLW includes things like paper and rags; ILW includes things like tools and clothing, and HLW includes things like highly radioactive and hot decay heat that requires cooling and shielding. About 96 percent of spent nuclear fuel is recycled in nuclear-reprocessing facilities into uranium-based and mixed oxide (MOX) fuels. Fission products, which account for the remaining 4%, are very radioactive High-Level Waste. Storage facilities are used to keep the radioactive material safe for a long enough time so that it does not represent an immediate threat. Source of the Radioactive Waste: A variety of sources produce radioactive waste. The nuclear fuel chain and nuclear weapons manufacturing generate vast waste in nations with nuclear power plants, nuclear armament, or nuclear fuel treatment facilities. Aside from natural radioactive materials (NORM) that may be concentrated in coal, oil, gas production or consumption, and certain minerals, other sources include medical waste and industrial waste. Classification of the Radioactive Waste: In each nation, radioactive waste is classified differently. An important role is played by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which produces the Radioactive Waste Safety Standards (RADWASS). The percentage of garbage created in the United Kingdom by different material categories. • Low-Level Waste (LLW)-94% • Intermediate-Level Waste (ILW) ~6% • High-Level Waste (HLW)- <1% 1. Low-Level-Waste (LLW) In addition to nuclear fuel cycles, low-level waste (LLW) is created in hospitals and industries. Paper, rags, tools, clothes, and filters are examples of low-level waste because they contain minuscule levels of radioactivity, most of which have a short half-life. Even though there is only a distant potential for contamination with radioactive elements, goods originating from any portion of an active area are routinely categorized as LLW as a preventive measure. Non-active material, such as a regular office complex, often has no more significant radioactivity than expected from such LLW. Medical tubes, animal corpses, wiping cloths, and more are all examples of LLW. LLW waste accounts for 94% of the UK's total radioactive waste volume.

1. RADIOACTIVE
WASTE
Written By:
Shahajan Miah
Assistant Professor
Bangladesh University of Business and Technology, Dhaka,
Bangladesh
Email: miahbubt@bubt.edu.bd

2. Radioactive Waste:
This sort of hazardous garbage includes radioactive substances known as radioactive waste.
Nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power production, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons
reprocessing all produce radioactive waste. Government authorities control the storage and disposal of
radioactive waste to safeguard both human health and the environment. In general, it is divided into low-
level waste (LLW), intermediate-level waste (ILW), and high-level waste (HLW). LLW includes things
like paper and rags; ILW includes things like tools and clothing, and HLW includes things like highly
radioactive and hot decay heat that requires cooling and shielding.
In general, it is divided into low-level waste (LLW), intermediate-level waste (ILW), and high-
level waste (HLW). LLW includes things like paper and rags; ILW includes things like tools and clothing,
and HLW includes things like highly radioactive and hot decay heat that requires cooling and shielding.
About 96 percent of spent nuclear fuel is recycled in nuclear-reprocessing facilities into uranium-based
and mixed oxide (MOX) fuels. Fission products, which account for the remaining 4%, are very
radioactive High-Level Waste. Storage facilities are used to keep the radioactive material safe for a long
enough time so that it does not represent an immediate threat.
Source of the Radioactive Waste:
A variety of sources produce radioactive waste. The nuclear fuel chain and nuclear weapons
manufacturing generate vast waste in nations with nuclear power plants, nuclear armament, or nuclear
fuel treatment facilities. Aside from natural radioactive materials (NORM) that may be concentrated in
coal, oil, gas production or consumption, and certain minerals, other sources include medical waste and
industrial waste.
Classification of the Radioactive Waste:
In each nation, radioactive waste is classified differently. An important role is played by the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which produces the Radioactive Waste Safety Standards
(RADWASS). The percentage of garbage created in the United Kingdom by different material categories.
• Low-Level Waste (LLW)-94%
• Intermediate-Level Waste (ILW) ~6%
• High-Level Waste (HLW)- <1%
1. Low-Level-Waste (LLW)
In addition to nuclear fuel cycles, low-level waste (LLW) is created in hospitals and industries. Paper,
rags, tools, clothes, and filters are examples of low-level waste because they contain minuscule levels of
radioactivity, most of which have a short half-life. Even though there is only a distant potential for
contamination with radioactive elements, goods originating from any portion of an active area are
routinely categorized as LLW as a preventive measure. Non-active material, such as a regular office
complex, often has no more significant radioactivity than expected from such LLW. Medical tubes,
animal corpses, wiping cloths, and more are all examples of LLW. LLW waste accounts for 94% of the
UK's total radioactive waste volume.

3. 2. Intermediate-Level Waste (ILW)
To put it another way, intermediate-level waste (ILW) is more radioactive than low-level waste. It is
usually shielded, but it does not need to be cooled. Resins, chemical sludge, metal nuclear fuel cladding,
and decommissioned reactor contamination are all examples of intermediate-level waste. It may be
incorporated into concrete or asphalt or combined with silica sand and calcined for disposal. Reactor
waste that is less than a year old is often buried in shallow repositories, whereas waste that is more than a
year old is typically buried in geological repositories.
This kind of garbage is not defined in the United States, although it is used in Europe and internationally.
An estimated 6% of the UK's radioactive waste is generated via ILW.
3. High-Level Waste (HLW)
Nuclear reactors and nuclear fuel reprocessing generate high-level waste (HLW). HLW is a term with
different meanings in different parts of the world. Nuclear fuel rods are designated HLW after completing
one fuel cycle and are removed from the core. The reactor core generates fission products and transuranic
elements, primarily found in the spent fuel rods. The radioactivity and temperature of spent fuel are two
of their most egregious characteristics. Over 95% of the overall radioactivity generated in nuclear power
production is HLW, yet it contributes less than 1% of the volume of all radioactive waste produced in the
UK. Overall, the UK's 60-year nuclear program generated 2150 m3
of HLW between 1957 and 2019.
Cesium-137 and strontium-90 are the most common radioactive elements found in used fuel rod waste,
although Plutonium, classified as transuranic waste, may also be present. These radioactive elements'
half-lives may vary significantly. A few radioactive substances have half-lives of 30 years or more. On
the other hand, Plutonium has a half-life of up to 24,000 years. Every year, the quantity of HLW around
the globe grows by around 12,000 tones. The annual output of spent nuclear fuel (unprocessed) from a
1000-megawatt nuclear power station is about 27 tons. To put this into perspective, it is estimated that
coal power stations in the United States create 130,000,000 metric tons of ash each year and that fly ash
releases 100 times as much radiation as a comparable nuclear power plant does.
As of 2010, it was projected that 250,000 metric tons of high-level nuclear waste (HLW) were stashed
across the world. Accidents or testing may have resulted in some of this being released into the
environment. There are now 17,000 tons of HLW in Japan's storage facilities. The United States now
possesses about 90,000 t of hazardous waste (HLW). Nuclear waste has been sent abroad for storage or
processing and returned to the United States as a kind of active fuel in certain circumstances. Nuclear
power's worldwide development is hampered by the continuous debate over properly disposing of high-
level radioactive waste. The primary long-term option, according to the majority of experts, is deep
geological burial, whether in a mine or a deep borehole. As of 2019, there is no specific civilian high-
level nuclear waste (HLW) facility in operation because of the low volume of HLW. Construction of
Finland's Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository, which is scheduled to open in 2025 at a depth of 400–450
m, is at an advanced level. A 500 m deep Cigeo facility near Bure, France, is developing. Forsmark is a
potential location for a Swedish base. Near Lake Huron in Ontario, Canada, it intends to build a 680 m
deep facility for nuclear power. In 2028, the Republic of Korea intends to establish a facility. As of 2020,
the location in Sweden has 80% approval from the local population.

4. References:
1. The Geological Society of London - Geological Disposal of Radioactive Waste. www.geolsoc.org.uk.
Retrieved 2020-03-12.
2. The Joint Convention. IAEA. Archived from the original on 2010-03-28.
3. What about Iodine-129 – Half-Life is 15 Million Years. Berkeley Radiological Air and Water Monitoring
Forum. University of California. 28 March 2011. Archived from the original on 13 May 2013.
Retrieved 1 December 2012.
4. Attix, Frank (1986). Introduction to Radiological Physics and Radiation Dosimetry. New York: Wiley-
VCH. pp. 2–15, 468, 474. ISBN 978-0-471-01146-0.
5. Anderson, Mary; Woessner, William (1992). Applied Groundwater Modeling. San Diego, CA: Academic
Press Inc. pp. 325–327. ISBN 0-12-059485-4.
6. The 2007 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. Annals of the
ICRP. ICRP publication 103. 37 (2–4). 2007. ISBN 978-0-7020-3048-2. Archived from the original on
2012-11-16.