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Publication Laka-library:
Waste management, Reprocessing and Proliferation. Draft (2001)

Author	Royal Institute Intern.Affairs UK
Date	September 2001
Classification	6.01.5.50/63 (WASTE - RADIOACTIVE WASTE GENERAL)
Front

Introduction

For the purposes of this paper the IAEA definition of radioactive waste
seems appropriate:

Any material that contains or is contaminated by radionuclides or radioactivity
levels greater than the exempted quantities established by the competent authorities
and for which no use is foreseen.

The issue of waste management is not primarily an economic one, although of course
economic considerations are important. In many countries, the issue of nuclear waste
stands out within the wider nuclear debate as the area where the perceptions, or at
least the public statements, of supporters and opponents are furthest apart. To many
within the nuclear industry, the long-term management of nuclear waste does not
represent any insuperable, or even especially difficult, technical problem, assuming
that proper investigation of site geology is undertaken. To opponents, the industry
is producing 'vast quantities' of 'deadly' waste, and it 'does not know what to do
with it'.

As in all matters nuclear, there is a wide variation in attitudes and approaches in
different countries. However, in many there is an often-stated view that until an
acceptable method of dealing with radioactive waste is in place, further development
of nuclear technology (or at least nuclear power technology - it is rare that other
sources of radioactive waste, such as nuclear medicine, are included) should be
prevented. For example, in the UK the Royal Commission on Environmental
Pollution (2000) has stated:

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