RADIOACTIVE WASTES 59 



II. Present Status of Radioactive Waste Disposal 



The following paragraphs summarize the status and latest developments in waste dis- 

 posal operations: 



1. To date, radioactive waste management operations have not resulted in any significant 

 effect on the public, its environment, or its natural resources. Extensive and continuing mon- 

 itoring programs will be required to assure that concentrations of radioactive material released 

 in the environment do not become excessive. Recent indications of potential pollution of 

 stream environments by the uranium milling industry show the need for a vigilant environ- 

 mental monitoring program. 



2. Treatment technology has been developed for removal of major portions of radio- 

 active materials from low-level radioactive wastes, which have a radioactivity concentration 

 of the order of fractions of microcuries per gallon. Wastes of this type can be expected in 

 practically all nuclear energy operations. Treatment systems, involving such unit operations 

 as evaporation, neutralization, chemical precipitation, and ion exchange have been satisfac- 

 torily utilized at various installations. In addition, depending on the type and quantity of 

 radioactivity involved and the characteristics of the specific site environment, it has been 

 possible to safely discharge low-level wastes, under careful control, directly to the environ- 

 ment (air. ground, and water) without treatment. Billions of gallons of such low-level wastes, 

 mostly from certain major AEC centers, are produced annually and have been handled safely 

 in this manner. 



3. Intermediate-level wastes, with radioactivity concentrations in the millicurie-per- 

 gallons range, have also been handled satisfactorily by existing treatment systems. In some 

 instances, at AEC installations, wastes of this type so far have been amenable to ground dis- 

 posal without treatment because of the particular environment at those locations. 



4. High-level wastes, having concentrations of activity ranging up to hundreds or 

 thousands of curies per gallon and widely varying chemical characteristics, are produced 

 during the chemical reprocessing of irradiated reactor fuels. Since the beginning of the atomic 

 energy program, approximately 65 million gallons of several types of these wastes have accu- 

 mulated. At the present time, they are contained in underground tanks at the Hanford Works 

 in Washington, the Savannah River Plant in South Carolina, and the National Reactor Testing 

 Station in Idaho. Today, operating practice is directed at reducing the volume of high-level 

 reprocessing waste in order to reduce tank storage requirements. It is a general consensus 

 that tank storage is not an ultimate solution to the waste disposal problem but that interim 

 (2-10 years) tank storage will be an integral part of any final disposal system. 



5. Wastes resulting from normal reactor operations have not presented major technical 

 problems to date. Treatment systems such as decay storage, filtration, evaporation, ion ex- 

 change, gas stripping, chemical precipitation, solidification of wastes, incineration, and dilu- 

 tion all have been utilized to process waste effluents in order that acceptable limits of radio- 

 activity in the receiving environment would not be exceeded. Considerable operating data 

 and experience for these waste handling facilities are available for plutonium production, and 

 for research and test reactors located at various AEC installations. Operating data for power 

 reactor waste handling systems is limited. Up to the present time, the Pressurized Water Re- 

 actor (PWR) at Shippingport, Pa., has been the major operating nuclear power station. Re- 

 cently, the reactor installation at Dresden, 111., was licensed to bring its power level up to 350 

 megawatts (50 per cent of its rated power). 



