Techniques for Dealing with the Hazardous Radioactive Wastes - Literature review Example

Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : xxxxxxxxxxx Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2016 Introduction Hazardous wastes are litters or materials with a chemical makeup that is capable of triggering considerable and possible threats to not only public health, but also the environment when mishandled or discharged into the surroundings. Hazardous wastes or materials may be solids, liquids, sludges, or contained gases. Alternatively; they can also be by-products of the manufacturing processes or discarded commercial products, such as pesticides or cleaning fluids. According to Streffer et.al (2011), typical hazardous wastes are known to display at least one of the four hazardous characteristics, including toxicity, ignitability, corrosively, and reactivity. This particular paper will comprehensively discuss the radioactive waste as one type of hazardous waste. In addition, the paper will discuss the techniques for dealing with this type of waste or one method of treating the radioactive waste as a hazardous waste. Above all, the paper will highlight the advantages/problems of the method. Detailed Discussion of the Radioactive Waste Radioactive wastes are simply wastes or materials that have radioactive materials. They are normally a by-product or wastes generated from the process of nuclear power generation as well as other activities that involve the use of nuclear technology or nuclear fission, including medicine, agriculture, industry, and nuclear research. As noted by Andrews (2011), radioactive wastes are harmful not only to a great number of living organisms, but also to the environment. Radioactive wastes naturally contain various radionuclides, which refers to the unstable disposition of components that decay, discharging ionizing radiation that can pose significant harm to human beings and the environment. The isotopes release various types of radiation levels that last for numerous years. All the radionuclides found within the radioactive wastes or materials survive for half-life, which is the time taken by a given substance to be decreased by half owing to decay, and thus, the discharge of radiation. Indeed, while all the radioactive wastes eventually decompose to form non-reactive elements, a selection of radioactive elements, such as the plutonium-239 often remains harmful to not only the life of humans but also other living organisms for hundreds of years. Given this, radioactive wastes are often controlled by various government agencies so as to safeguard the environment and human being health. Techniques for Dealing with the Hazardous Radioactive Wastes While the European Commission on Energy (2016) notes that, there is no efficient method of dealing with the intermediate as well as the high-level radioactive wastes; low as well as medium-level radioactive wastes are increasingly being dealt with. Long-term amassing radioactive waste materials often calls for the stabilization of waste materials into a form that will not only react or degrade for a long period. One of the major techniques being used to deal with the hazardous radioactive wastes is through vitrification. As Oh (2001) highlights, vitrification is an acknowledged technique used in the disposal as well as the storage of radioactive wastes. Under this technique, the radioactive wastes are mixed with the glass-forming chemicals within a heating system to develop molten glass, which then solidifies, thus immobilizing the radioactive wastes. In this particular form, the resultant radioactive waste materials are projected to be immobilized for hundreds of years. Presently in Sellafield, England, however, the high-level radioactive waste is mixed up with sugar, and thereafter calcined. According to the Great Britain, National Audit Office (2012), the process of calcinations entails passing the radioactive waste materials via a heated tube. The major reason for calcinations is to allow the water to evaporate from the radioactive waste, and to help in achieving stability of the produced glass. According to Oh (2001), the vitrification process is often attractive, as it is known to do away with the hazardous organics contained within the wastes and chemically incorporating the radioactive as well as the harmful inorganic components into a safer glass product. Furthermore, Oh (2001) adds that, different from the case of radioactive waste materials in which the glass product is still radioactive and has to be disposed of accordingly, the process of vitrification is also known to render the hazardous wastes non-hazardous. This leads to the additional likelihood of product re-use, with the common uses of the products including insulation, abrasives, tiles, fibers and coatings. Undoubtedly, such helpful re-use provides the likelihood of makeup for the costs used in the treatment of wastes, which can form an essential factor in the selection of a waste treatment technology. As Marra and Jantzen (2004) highlight, the Environmental Protection Agency has identified vitrification as the best available technology for dealing with high metals as well as high-level radioactive waste materials. Certainly, Marra and Jantzen (2004) argue that vitrification is an effective technique in as far as the disposal of nuclear wastes, radioactive waste materials, and exceedingly toxic materials. Various aspects of the vitrification technique indicate its advantages or merits of the. The major advantage relates to its volume reduction of toxic substances. Its other advantages include cost effectiveness, possible re-use of waste glass, the capability to deal with various waste types as well its solidity and durability. Despite its many advantages, the technique has various drawbacks, which include: (i).Its high initial cost of investment (ii).Its high cost of operation (iii).It is complicated technology that requires well-trained personnel Another important technique used to manage the hazardous radioactive wastes is the ion exchange. As the International Atomic Energy Agency (2002) states, ion exchange is a technique where itinerant ions from an external solution are exchanged with ions that are electronically bound within a given solid medium. By making use of the actuality that, under particular conditions, the ion exchange media often possess a significantly higher affinity for particular ionic species as compared to others; a separation of these particular species can be achieved. According to Tedder and Pohland (2007), it is often natural for medium and active radioactive waste materials within the nuclear industry to be controlled by employing the use of the ion exchange technique, as a means of compressing the radioactivity into a miniature volume. Mechanical wears, as well as corrosion within the nuclear power plants, often release smaller amounts of metals into the power plant’s heat transfer system, which turn out to be radioactive owing to the absorption of the neutron. The resultant radioisotopes that are formed often turn out to be part of an intractable coating of metal oxides on the inside surfaces of pumps and pipes. They develop a radiation field that is peripheral to the equipment, which must often be minimized to limit exposure to the plant employees. Ion exchange is among the most common as well as effective methods of treating radioactive waste. The lesser radioactive bulk is normally then discharged. For example, one can employ the use of the ferric hydroxide flocs to get rid of radioactive metals from the aqueous mixtures. Certainly, once the radioisotopes become absorbed by the ferric hydroxide flocs, the resultant sludge may be put in a metallic drum before it is mixed with cement so that it forms a solid form of waste. As another important technique of managing radioactive waste materials, ion exchange exhibits a number of advantages as well as disadvantages. The major advantage of this technique is that is very efficient in as far as the transfer of a huge volume of liquids into a miniature amount of solid. Alternatively, the International Atomic Energy Agency (2002) argues that another advantage of the technique relates its low requirement of equipment. On the other hand, despite the low requirement of equipment for this particular technique of radioactive waste management, the high-integrity containers used are costly. Given this, the technique is often used with low production of resin. Another noticeable disadvantage of this particular technique is that particular characteristics of the ion exchange materials as well as the processes tend to limit not only its applicability but also efficiency. For instance, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (2002), when utilized as a packed bed within a column, the absolute removal of particular radionuclide is often impossible. This particular challenge is normally due to the experienced leakage. This often leads to the radionuclide going through without being seized. The International Atomic Energy Agency (2002) confirms that in a well-designed system, this particular breakthrough can be significantly low, though still present. Alternatively, when used with a batch process, poor mixing might also affect the effectiveness of the technique’s material. Naturally, the totality of the dissolved salts ought to be generally low. At high-level concentration, the interchange potentials of the ions tend to weaken and there is always an increased competition for the interchange sites pitting the radioactive species and the non-radioactive ions. Conclusion The above paper has offered a detailed discussion of the radioactive waste as an important type of hazardous wastes. Other than the detailed analysis of the radioactive waste as an important type of hazardous waste, the paper has also provided the various techniques that can be used to manage this type of waste, in addition to providing both the advantages and the advantages of the mentioned techniques. The discussed techniques used in managing the radioactive waste include the vintrification as well as the ion exchange techniques. References Andrews, A 2011, Radioactive Waste Streams: Waste Classification for Disposal, Collingade, Pennsylvania: DIANE Publishing European Commission on Energy 2016, Radioactive waste and spent fuel, Retrieved on the 25th August, 2016 from< https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/nuclear-energy/radioactive-waste-and-spent-fuel> Great Britain: National Audit Office 2012, Managing Risk Reduction at Sellafield: Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, London: The Stationery Office International Atomic Energy Agency 2002, Application of Ion Exchange Processes for the Treatment of Radioactive Waste and Management of Spent Ion Exchangers, Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency Marra, J & Jantzen, C, 2004, Glass: An Environmental Protector, Retrieved on 25 August 2016 from Nagasaki, S & Nakayama, S 2015, Radioactive Waste Engineering and Management, Berlin: Springer Oh, C 2001, Hazardous and Radioactive Waste Treatment Technologies Handbook, Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press Ojovan, M & Lee, O 2007, New Developments in Glassy Nuclear Wasteforms, New York: Nova Publishers Streffer, C et.al, 2011, Radioactive Waste: Technical and Normative Aspects of its Disposal, Berlin: Springer Science & Business Media Tedder, W & Pohland, F, 2007, Emerging Technologies in Hazardous Waste Management, Berlin: Springer Science & Business Media Read More