Nuclear waste transportation concerns

The following section provides detailed information concerning the transport of radionuclides associated with two very different field analogues the Chernobyl reactor accident and the Oklo Natural Reactor. These examples span wide temporal and spatial scales and include the rapid geochemical and physical processes important to nuclear reactor accidents or industrial discharges as well as the slower processes important to the geologic disposal of nuclear waste. 

Because of the danger, elaborate and expensive precautions must be taken to protect people who work with radioisotopes. Highly radioactive waste products that can take many thousands of years to decay must be stored carefully. Choosing storage sites is difficult, and so is transport of the wastes to the storage sites. Many people are concerned about nuclear processes as energy sources. The threat of nuclear war and concern over radioactive fallout have also caused some people to be reluctant to use any form of radioactivity. 

A number of serious problems occur in the process of atomic energy enterprises operations that are related to the pollution of certain sites with radioactive materials. The sources of the radioactive contamination of soils are the sites where different atomic objects are located, for example, plants for processing of nuclear wastes, atomic power plants, plants for the production of nuclear fuel and nuclear reactors, and others. Radioactive contamination enters into the soils as a result of different emergencies concerning the storage, transport, and use of nuclear fuel or nuclear waste. Nuclear tests were important and dangerous sources of the entrance of radioactive contamination into the environment prior to their prohibition across the world. 

Environmental. The growth in the population of the world has been accompanied by increases in consumption and the production of waste. Environmental engineering is concerned with the reduction of existing pollution in the air, in the water, and on land, and the prevention of future harm to the environment. Issues addressed include pollution from manufecturing and other sources, the transportation of clean water, and the disposal of nonbiodegradable materials and hazardous and nuclear waste. Because pollution of the air, land, and water crosses national borders, environmental engineers need a broad, global perspective. 

In the past ten years the number of chemistry-related research problems in the nuclear industry has increased dramatically. Many of these are related to surface or interfacial chemistry. Some applications are reviewed in the areas of waste management, activity transport in coolants, fuel fabrication, component development, reactor safety studies, and fuel reprocessing. Three recent studies in surface analysis are discussed in further detail in this paper. The first concerns the initial corrosion mechanisms of borosilicate glass used in high level waste encapsulation. The second deals with the effects of residual chloride contamination on nuclear reactor contaminants. Finally, some surface studies of the high temperature oxidation of Alloys 600 and 800 are outlined such characterizations are part of the effort to develop more protective surface films for nuclear reactor applications. ... 

The RHP excludes the very short term (to about 3 months after shutdown) and the longterm activities concerned with transport to the repository, disposal and the evolution of wasteforms on geological timescales. The emphasis has therefore been to develop a measure that will reflect the amounts of nuclear materials in storage and the impact of decommissioning/cleanup activities in the medium term (10 to 30 years) during which time wastes will be converted into forms suitable for interim storage. 

So why does the chemical industry fare little better than nuclear energy (worse in the USA [3]) in terms of public favourability and does it matter anyway The main reasons given for unfavourable opinions are concerns over adverse environmental impact, transport, safety and waste. Less than one third of those interviewed believed that the chemical industry is con-... 

At this first meeting two issues, in particular, divided the experts the scope of the convention and the need for technical specificity. On the question of scope many countries favoured a convention which would address the entire fuel cycle plus research reactors, transportation and the use of radioisotopes. A significant number of countries, however, argued for a narrow scope limited to die activity of greatest international concern, i.e. nuclear power plants. The most steadfast opposition to a convention limited to civil nuclear power plants came from States that wished to see waste management included. Indeed, the deliberations of December 1991 had led them to believe diat it would be possible to achieve consensus on inclusion of waste management. 

The massive production of radionuclides (radioactive isotopes) by weapons and nuclear reactors since World War II has been accompanied by increasing concern about the effects of radioactivity upon health and the environment. As illustrated in Figure 4.15 and by the specific examples shown in Table 4.7, radionuclides are produced as fission products of heavy nuclei of such elements as uranium or plutonium and are also produced by the reaction of neutrons with stable nuclei. The ultimate disposition of radionuclides formed in large quantities as waste products in nuclear power generation poses challenges with regard to the widespread use of nuclear power. Artificially produced radionuclides are also widely used in industrial and medical applications, particularly as tracers. Radionuclides may enter aquatic systems from both artificial and natural sources, and their transport, reactions, and biological concentration in aquatic ecosystems can be a water pollution concern. 

---