Radioactive waste. Institutional management

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the growing use of radioactive substances in various fields (research, industry, health, defense, energy) has produced an ever-increasing diversity of radioactive waste. For the past three decades, waste from nuclear power plants, known as nuclear waste, has been the most numerous and the most radioactive. In some countries, this is in addition to historical and current military nuclear waste. The management of radioactive waste is always very different from that of conventional industrial waste. Radioactive waste management in France covers the many aspects that need to be considered to ensure the protection of man and the environment. A great deal of study and research has gone into radioactive waste. The radioactive waste to be managed is highly varied and in large quantities, with operational disposal channels for many wastes and others under study. Current waste management is governed by recent legislation. The French situation is enveloped by what exists in other countries.

Radioactive waste management is covered in four articles. The first covers what you need to know to understand the most complicated long-term management problems, and the institutional aspects of waste inventory, processing to form primary waste packages, waste storage and, finally, disposal, where possible. The second article details operational practices covering operations to transform raw waste into primary waste packages. The third deals with the disposal of waste packages by geological deposition. The final article looks at studies and research into the development of a future nuclear waste management system that is less harmful than today's waste.