Managing Nuclear Waste - A Better Idea

All activities which involve the use of radioactive material inevitably result in nuclear waste as a by-product of their operation. Most of the waste produced by such activities as medical diagnosis and therapy, field and laboratory research, and industrial processes is low-level radioactive waste—primarily small amounts of radioactivity in a large volume of matter.
This report deals essentially with the management and ultimate disposal of high-level radioactive wastes, especially those which are produced by commercial power reactors. A smaller but nevertheless substantial source of high-level waste is that of nuclear weapons activity, which of course originated in World War II. During the past quarter of a century, however, the utility industry has produced the bulk of high-level radioactive wastes and spent nuclear fuel.
In the highly complex nuclear field, there are a multiplicity of definitions for the various types and radioactive levels of nuclear wastes. Some of these definitions are extremely scientific and incomprehensible to the layman. The Panel therefore chose to accept the definitions of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel which are cited in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.