Radioactive waste
Where does it come
from?
Power generation
If waste disposal is the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle, the front end is uranium mining.Operational uses generate all forms of waste as does fuel reprocessing.
The decommissioning of nuclear facilities means that quantities of contaminated material must be dealt with. This will lead to large amounts of low level and intermediate level waste for disposal.
Industrial/commercial/research uses
Industry makes use of radioactive materials for diagnostic purposes (x-rays of welds, etc). Oil production can also concentrate natural radioactivity.There are consumer products which contain radioactive materials - smoke detectors.
Universities and other research organisations employ radioactive materials for numerous purposes.
Medical uses
Medical x-rays give a large fraction of the annual dose in the UK but other diagnostic techniques also play a role .Large, short-lived concentrations of radionuclides can be used in the body to attack tumours.
Military uses
Weapon production.
Each of these activities can lead to larger or smaller amounts of waste material contaminated by larger or smaller amount of radioactive materials.
Source: Galson Sciences Limited