Radioactive waste management and contaminated site clean-up: processes, technologies and international experience

Radioactive waste management is critical to the use of nuclear power, the use of radioisotopes in research, medicine and industry, and to the clean-up of materials in nuclear weapon programmes. Radioactive waste management and contaminated site clean-up reviews radioactive waste management processes, technologies, and international experiences. Part one introduces the background and principles of radioactive waste management. Chapters explore the fundamentals of radioactive waste including sources, characterisation, and processing strategies. Further chapters focus on international safety standards, the remediation of radioactively contaminated sites, and irradiated nuclear fuel management. Chapters in part two highlight the current international situation in a variety of countries including Russia, Poland, Germany, France, England, Scotland, USA, Canada, and China. The experience in Japan, with a specific chapter on the situation and future plans at Fukushima, is also covered. Finally, part three explores the clean-up of sites contaminated by weapons programmes.