WASTE DISPOSAL
Radioactive waste is the byproduct of using or producing radioactive materials. There are 5 types of radioactive waste; low-level, intermediate-level, high-level, transuranic, and mill tailings. There is a waiting period that radioactive waste goes through before becoming harmless and this is different for every piece of waste. Waste is normally stored below ground or in a water source until it is deemed no longer radioactive and disposed.

CAUSES OF WASTE
LOW-LEVEL

• basic items that have come in contact with radioactive
materials and could possibly be contaminated
• shallow land burial
INTERMEDIATE-LEVEL

• resins, chemical slugde, metal nuclear fuel cladding,
and materials used in reactor decomissons
• sheilding and geological disposal
HIGH-LEVEL

• byproducts of nuclear reactors and fuel
•storage first to allow decay
• deep geological disposal and dry casks
MILL TAILINGS

• waste from mining uranium-bearing
ores with chemically hazardous metals
• impoundments
TRANSURANIC

• waste from nuclear weapon production
• waste from man-made elements with
an atomic number of 92 or higher
• stored at federal facilities as a part of a defense program