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Radioactive waste: A review
Author(s) -
Deng Dongyang,
Zhang Lifeng,
Dong Ming,
Samuel Raymond E.,
OforiBoadu Andrea,
Lamssali Mehdi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
water environment research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1554-7531
pISSN - 1061-4303
DOI - 10.1002/wer.1442
Subject(s) - radioactive waste , waste management , environmental science , human decontamination , waste disposal , radionuclide , interim , spent nuclear fuel , engineering , physics , archaeology , quantum mechanics , history
The reviewed papers presented here provide a general overview of worldwide radioactive waste‐related studies conducted in 2019. The current review includes studies related to safety assessments, decommission and decontamination of nuclear facilities, fusion facilities, and transportation. Further, the review highlights radioactive wastewater decontamination, management solutions for the final disposal of low‐ and high‐level radioactive wastes (LLRW and HLRW), interim storage and final disposal options for spent fuel (SF), and tritiated wastes, with a focus on environmental impacts due to the mobility of radionuclides in the ecosystem, water and soil along with other research progress made in the management of radioactive waste. Practitioner points The release of radionuclides and their subsequent fate and transport in the environment poses public health concern and has stimulated recent research on the waste management techniques. Seeking a safe and environmental‐friendly solution is the current trend for existing and projected inventories of radioactive waste. Significant progress in the field of geological disposal of radioactive waste has been made in the last two decades.