Disposal of Low and Intermediate Levels of Radioactive Waste in Bangladesh — An Investigation on the Selection of a Suitable Site by Using a Geographic Information System and a Multi-criteria Analysis

Near-surface disposal is anticipated to be the preferred option for the disposal of low and intermediate levels of radioactive waste in Bangladesh. A geographic information system (GIS) and a multi-criteria analysis were used for screening all of Bangladesh to identify potential areas to establish a near-surface disposal facility (NSDF). Five main data criteria, namely geology, hydrology, climatology, pedology and socio-economy, were used in the analysis and were further sub-divided into 14 sub-criteria. Layers of these sub-criteria graded on a scale of 0–5 were used as raw data for the analysis, where 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 indicate excluded area, completely unsuitable, unsuitable, moderately suitable, suitable and most suitable, respectively. Finally, a suitability map was generated using the analytic hierarchy process and GIS software, which indicated about 1.78% (2621.88 km²) of the total area to be most suitable for the construction of a NSDF in Bangladesh.