Radioactive wastes consigned to near-surface land disposal

Low-level waste is by far the waste type most commonly associated with near-surface land disposal. This chapter is therefore largely devoted to a discussion of the types of low-level waste that are normally disposed of in near-surface facilities. These wastes arise in operations at nuclear power plants, in private industry, in government operations, and at medical and research institutions. An increasingly important source of higher-activity, intermediate-level waste is the decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear power plants and charged-particle accelerators. Finally, a special class of radioactive waste, uranium and thorium mill tailings are discussed