Waste disposal and geology - Scientific perspectives -

Mineralogical Magazine, 2012

Wastes are unwanted materials which are unfit for use and they could be generated from industrial, extractive, municipal or agricultural activities. Wastes can be disposed off in various ways such as landfilling, ocean dumping, open dumping or can be reduced in volume by recycling, incinerating and compacting. Ocean dumping puts wastes out of the sight of the people but contributes to the pollution of the oceans to which the world turns increasingly for food. Open dumping is inexpensive, but poses a serious health hazard, damage due to air pollution, groundwater and runoff pollution. Incineration as means of waste disposal provides a partial solution, but also poses a serious hazard of air pollution. Recycling and re-use is a waste reduction strategy because some wastes cannot be recycled. The main objective of this paper is to highlight the requirements of involving the appropriate professionals in the construction and management of wastes disposal facilities. Due to the health hazards involved in the above mentioned methods of disposal, landfills which are carefully engineered depressions in the ground into which wastes are put until rendered innocuous through physical, chemical and biological degradation, remains the most useful tool in municipal solid waste management. Prior to the design and construction of a landfill site, geological, geophysical and geotechnical characteristics of the site must be investigated to ensure the best location, stability of the facility and to minimize its effects both in the short and long terms. Once a suitable site has been located, the engineering construction of the facility can begin. A clay liner is usually placed at the base of the excavated surface. When the final elevations are reached, a low permeability capping layer is placed. Boreholes and sampling points should be installed down gradient to monitor the impact of leachate on the underlying groundwater. The most suitable after-uses of landfill sites include parks, pasture land, parking lots, recreational activities and other facilities not requiring much excavation. KEY WORDS: Leachate, Landfill, Waste, Engineering, Geology.

Elements, 2016

The back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle has become the Achilles Heel of nuclear power. After more than 50 years of effort, there are, at present, no operating nuclear waste repositories for the spent nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear power plants or for the high-level waste from the reprocessing of spent fuel. This issue describes the status of geological disposal in salt, crystalline rock, clay, and tuff, as presently developed in five countries.

Wastes are unwanted materials which are unfit for use and they could be generated from industrial, extractive, municipal or agricultural activities. Wastes can be disposed off in various ways such as landfilling, ocean dumping, open dumping or can be reduced in volume by recycling, incinerating and compacting. Ocean dumping puts wastes out of the sight of the people but contributes to the pollution of the oceans to which the world turns increasingly for food. Open dumping is inexpensive, but poses a serious health hazard, damage due to air pollution, groundwater and runoff pollution. Incineration as means of waste disposal provides a partial solution, but also poses a serious hazard of air pollution. Recycling and re-use is a waste reduction strategy because some wastes cannot be recycled. The main objective of this paper is to highlight the requirements of involving the appropriate professionals in the construction and management of wastes disposal facilities. Due to the health hazards involved in the above mentioned methods of disposal, landfills which are carefully engineered depressions in the ground into which wastes are put until rendered innocuous through physical, chemical and biological degradation, remains the most useful tool in municipal solid waste management. Prior to the design and construction of a landfill site, geological, geophysical and geotechnical characteristics of the site must be investigated to ensure the best location, stability of the facility and to minimize its effects both in the short and long terms. Once a suitable site has been located, the engineering construction of the facility can begin. A clay liner is usually placed at the base of the excavated surface. When the final elevations are reached, a low permeability capping layer is placed. Boreholes and sampling points should be installed down gradient to monitor the impact of leachate on the underlying groundwater. The most suitable after-uses of landfill sites include parks, pasture land, parking lots, recreational activities and other facilities not requiring much excavation. KEY WORDS: Leachate, Landfill, Waste, Engineering, Geology

Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 2012

Earth scientists have been concerned with the problem of disposal of radioactive wastes since 1955 when the National .Academy of Sciences gathered 65 scientists in Princeton, N.J., to consider the geological, biological, physical, and chemical aspects of waste containment. Investigations during the 1950's and early 1960's examined the feasibility of disposal of liquid high-level wastes in deep geologic basins and in salt mines. Scientists since then, sponsored largely by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and later by the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration, carefully considered salt deposits as a repository for solidified high-level wastes. Within the past few years, in response to growing pressures for a resolution of the problem of disposing of the wastes, earth scientists at various universities and government laboratories, as well as at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), also began an intensive examination of the problem. As a result of this expanded examination, modified concepts of geologic disposal have evolved, and aspects of some older concepts have been questioned. Some of these changes in outlook and philosophy as perceived by USGS scientists are described in this Circular. Because the authors are confident that acceptable geologic repositories can be constructed, this paper should not be construed as an attempt to discredit the concept of geologic containment or the work done in the 1960's and early 1970's. However, the earth-science problems associated with disposal of radioactive wastes are not simple, nor are they completely understood. The many weaknesses in geologic knowledge noted in this report warrant a conservative approach to the development of geologic repositories in any medium. Increased participation in this problem by earth scientists of various disciplines appears necessary before final decisions are made to use repositories. Basic philosophical, as well as technological, issues remain to be resolved.

2016

In some cases there may be a milestone where an item is being fabricated, maintenance is being performed on a facility, or a document is being issued through a formal document control process where it specifically calls out a formal review of the document. In these cases, documentation (e.g., inspection report, maintenance request, work planning package documentation or the documented review of the issued document through the document control process) of the completion of the activity along with the Document Cover Sheet is sufficient to demonstrate achieving the milestone. If QRL 1, 2, or 3 is not assigned, then the Lab/Participant QA Program (no additional FCT QA requirements box must be checked, and the work is understood to be performed, and any deliverable developed, in conformance with the respective National Laboratory/Participant, DOE-or NNSA-approved QA Program.

Swiss Journal of Geosciences, 2015

The geological disposal of radioactive wastes is generally accepted to be the most practicable approach to handling the waste inventory built up from over 70 years accumulation of power production, research-medical-industrial and military wastes. Here, a brief overview of the approach to geological disposal is presented along with some information on repository design and the assessment of repository postclosure safety. One of the significant challenges for repository safety assessment is how to extrapolate the likely long-term (i.e. ten thousand to a million years) behaviour of the repository from the necessarily short term data from analytical laboratories and underground rock laboratories currently available. One approach, common to all fields of the geosciences, but also in such diverse fields as philosophy, biology, linguistics, law etc., is to utilise the analogue argumentation methodology. For the specific case of radioactive waste management, the term 'natural analogue' has taken on a particular meaning associated with providing supporting arguments for a repository safety assessment. This approach is discussed here with a brief overview of how the study of natural (and, in particular, geological) systems can provide supporting information on the likely long-term evolution of a deep geological waste repository. The overall approach is discussed and some relevant examples are presented, including the use of uranium ore bodies to assess waste form stability, the investigation of native metals to define the longevity of waste containers and how natural clays can provide information on the stability of waste tunnel backfill material. Keywords Radioactive waste disposal Á Evaluation of long-term safety Á Repository design Á Natural systems Editorial handling: A. G. Milnes. This invited review article is published as the introductory paper to the special theme: Natural Analogue Research for Deep Disposal of Nuclear Waste.

Municipal and Industrial Waste Disposal, 2012

OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information), 2015

In some cases there may be a milestone where an item is being fabricated, maintenance is being performed on a facility, or a document is being issued through a formal document control process where it specifically calls out a formal review of the document. In these cases, documentation (e.g., inspection report, maintenance request, work planning package documentation or the documented review of the issued document through the document control process) of the completion of the activity along with the Document Cover Sheet is sufficient to demonstrate achieving the milestone.