Management of low and intermediate level radioactive liquid waste - a review

In Indian context, low and intermediate level radioactive liquid waste encompasses wide range of streams ranging from process effluents, decontamination solutions, analytical wastes, potentially active effluent streams etc. This stream account for more than 90% of waste volume though the radioactivity content is less than 5%. These wastes differ widely in radiochemical distribution and concentration making their management a challenging task. In Indian scenario, typically wastes with gross beta less than 0.1 mCi/L is often termed as low level waste (LLW). This stream is usually characterized by pH 8 to 10, having low total solids concentration and is generated by every facility of nuclear fuel cycle in the form of treated effluents, washings and potentially active wastes. Intermediate Level waste, on the other hand, are usually alkaline and is typically characterized by specific activity of the order of few tens of mCi/lit. These wastes are usually process streams of reprocessing origin