Technical factors in the site selection for a radioactive wastes storage of low and intermediate level

The storage on surface or near surface it is viable for wastes of low and intermediate level which contain radio nuclides of short half life that would decay at insignificant levels of radioactivity in some decades and also radio nuclides of long half life but in very low concentrations. The sites selection, for the construction of radioactive waste storages, that present an appropriate stability at long term, a foreseeable behavior to future and a capacity to fulfill other operational requirements, is one of the great tasks that confront the waste disposal agencies. In the selection of potential sites for the construction of a radioactive wastes storage of low and intermediate level, several basic judgments should be satisfied that concern to physiography, climatology, geologic, geo-hydrology, tectonic and seismic aspects; as well as factors like the population density, socioeconomic develops and existent infrastructure. the necessary technician-scientific investigations for the selection of a site for the construction of radioactive waste storages are presented in this work and they are compared with the pre-selection factors realized in specify areas in previous studies in different regions of the Mexican Republic. (Author)