Providing radiation safety in handling radioactive wastes from nuclear power stations

The most promising way of handling liquid wastes is to convert them to the solid state, which involves binding the radionuclides to prevent leaching and the entry of them into the environment. One of the most reliable methods of binding radionuclides in liquid wastes is described in this paper, which is bitumening, a method currently being introduced at Soviet stations. Improvements in the existing system for handling liquid wastes must be designed to reduce the volume of primary wastes. The authors feel that at present, it is most realistic to provide reliable isolation of solidified or solid wastes in the lithosphere. Gaseous wastes pass through a complicated system designed to remove aerosols and iodine and stored temporarily in gas holders of radio chromatographic systems which greatly reduce the activities from thre radioactive inert gases which are released through the stack, before they are discharged into the atmosphere. Basic specifications are presented which must be met in order to ensure radiation safety in storing wastes