text:
The future of illusively responsive web apps is here. Actually since December 2009 when Google released their 188.8.131.52 version of Chrome, WebSockets have been available to play around with. Connecting and communicating with a server from a regular web page is now as easy as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
var ws = new WebSocket("ws://localhost:9999/"); ws.onopen = function() { ws.send("Hello Mr. Server!"); }; ws.onmessage = function (e) { alert(e.data); }; ws.onclose = function() { }; |
This opens a bi-directional connection to a server, allowing messages to be sent between a client (i.e. the web page) and a WebSocket server (this example) without the overhead introduced by opening a new connection for every single call. Up until now, this kind of behavior could only be achieved by Ajax requests combined with various tricks. This in order to keep a session open and not close immediately after a message has been sent and received.
The result of this is blazingly fast communication between a server and one or many connected clients. Here's a video I recorded where two audio clients, i.e. web pages with websockets, are connected to an audio server which is using the Spotify library to stream music. Look at how they're really in sync! And remember that each command produced by moving the slider is sent to the server, parsed and then sent back to the other client. This almost without any noticeable lag:
There are already some projects out there that attempts to provide a server solution. Many of them exists merely to illustrate the concept, but we'll definitely see some real implementations popping up very soon. The aim with this post was to do as little as possible in order to get a message sent from Chrome to pass through a Python socket setup and bounce back to the browser.
To get this working we need some background details to get the implementation right. Firstly, there is the WebSocket API Draft. This is what has been implemented in Chrome and specifies how to connect to the socket via Javascript on our web page:
Secondly there is the Websocket Protocol which is currently at the draft stage but has gone through 74 iterations as we're speaking. The protocol tells us how to wrap and extract messages sent to and from our server. In the protocol it is stated that a header like the following raw text shall be sent from the client, in this case Chrome. So this is what we'll recieve at the server socket:
GET /demo HTTP/1.1
Upgrade: WebSocket
Connection: Upgrade
Host: example.com
Origin: http://example.com
WebSocket-Protocol: sample
Our server shall then consume this text, validate it, and answer by sending the following back to the client:
HTTP/1.1 101 Web Socket Protocol Handshake
Upgrade: WebSocket
Connection: Upgrade
WebSocket-Origin: http://example.com
WebSocket-Location: ws://example.com/demo
WebSocket-Protocol: sample
If this so called handshake doesn't look right to the client, it will close the connection. So it's important that WebSocket-Origin and WebSocket-Location is copied from the first message exactly as stated. Otherwise Chrome will suspect that something is fishy and cut the cord.
And the code for out Python server looks like this:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 |
import socket sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM) sock.bind(("", 9999)) sock.listen(5) handshake = '\ HTTP/1.1 101 Web Socket Protocol Handshake\r\n\ Upgrade: WebSocket\r\n\ Connection: Upgrade\r\n\ WebSocket-Origin: http://localhost:8888\r\n\ WebSocket-Location: ws://localhost:9999/\r\n\r\n\ ' handshaken = False print "TCPServer Waiting for client on port 9999" import sys data = '' header = '' client, address = sock.accept() while True: if handshaken == False: header += client.recv(16) if header.find('\r\n\r\n') != -1: data = header.split('\r\n\r\n', 1)[1] handshaken = True client.send(handshake) else: tmp = client.recv(128) data += tmp; validated = [] msgs = data.split('\xff') data = msgs.pop() for msg in msgs: if msg[0] == '\x00': validated.append(msg[1:]) for v in validated: print v client.send('\x00' + v + '\xff') |
As you might notice, I make use of the low-level socket library in Python. A message sent from a client is stripped from surrounding tags (00 and ff), and sent back with the same padding. Several messages can be read in the same 128 byte chunk and split into the correct amount of validated messages. The remaining bytes are saved until the next read.
This implementation is rather useless by itself. However, it demonstrates the Websocket which really has the potential to revolutionize future web apps. Hopefully by not getting more advanced than this, some basic understanding about the communication flow can be learned.
To get more inspiration for your Websocket implementation there are some nice code out there which will get you up and running with both Python and Node.js as backend


text: This Is What Jumping 105 Feet In A Rally Car Looks LikeRaphael Orlove4/24/13 3:34pmFiled to: RallyJumpsWomen DriversSubaru Impreza653EditPromoteShare to KinjaToggle Conversation toolsGo to permalinkMeet rally driver Erika Detota and her codriver Mary Warren. They are on the last stage of the only all-tarmac rally in the US and they are about to jump their car 105 feet down the road.AdvertisementThis was at the Empire State Performance Rally over the weekend, just 90 minutes outside of New York City. If you didn't go, you missed out.Just for the record, nobody else jumped their car as far as Erika and Mary, who finished second in the 2WD class.Reply65 repliesLeave a reply

subset: commoncrawl


text:
August 12, 2014
US Lung Cancer Rates Vary By Subtype, Sex, Race/Ethnicity, And Age
A new analysis confirms that US lung cancer rates are declining overall, but it also uncovers previously unrecognized trends related to cancer subtype, sex, race/ethnicity, and age. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings provide a more accurate picture of the state of lung cancer in the country and will help researchers in their ongoing efforts to monitor the population's lung health.
Overall, lung cancer rates are declining in the United States, but little is known about trends related to different subtypes of lung cancer and different demographic groups. To investigate, Denise Riedel Lewis, PhD, MPH, of the National Cancer Institute, and her colleagues analyzed information from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program. Their goal was to update the classification of lung cancer subtypes and to determine the rates of lung cancer overall as well as the rates of squamous cell, small cell, adenocarcinoma, large cell, other, and unspecified carcinomas among US whites and blacks diagnosed from 1977 to 2010 and white non-Hispanics, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and white Hispanics diagnosed from 1992 to 2010.The researchers found that squamous and small cell carcinoma rates declined since the 1990s, although less rapidly among females than males. Rates for unspecified lung cancer also declined. Adenocarcinoma rates decreased among males through 2005, after which they rose rapidly from 2006 to 2010 among every racial/ethnic/gender group. Recent adenocarcinoma rates were higher among young females than among males for all racial/ethnic groups.
The findings indicate that lung cancer rates vary by subtype, sex, race/ethnicity, and age. "It is important to monitor these changes as clinical cancer experts diagnose lung cancer and offer treatment based on specific characteristics of the cancer," said Dr. Lewis. Because 90 to 95 percent of lung cancers in the United States are attributable to smoking, rate changes reflect historical cigarette smoking rates, duration, cessation, and cigarette composition. "These results can serve as a place marker for our population's changing lung exposures," Dr. Lewis noted.


text:
Odor eliminating carbon is infused into this electrostatically charged filter to trap and absorb dust, pollen, dust mites, mold, tobacco odors, spores, pet dander, pet odors, smog, bacteria, cooking odors and more.
Equivalent Honeywell Filter:FC100A1037
Fits Honeywell 20x25 Air Cleaners: F25 Series: F25F1026 (203720) F35 Series: F35F1024 (FC35A1027) F100 Series: F100B1032, F100B1040, F100F1038, F100F1095, F100F2010, F100F2051 F150 Series: F150E1034 F200 Series: F200E1037
Lenox: HC10, HC16, X6675 (BMAC-20C, HCC20-28)
Filter Specifications:
Recommended Replacement:
This filter should be replaced at least once every twelve months. If this filter remains in use longer than twelve months, it may begin to restrict airflow. In addition, certain conditions in your home will significantly add particles to the air, causing the filter to capture more particles than usual. This may shorten the filter life to less than twelve months, and reduce the effectiveness of the filter to capture particles. These conditions include: Dirty Ductwork, Construction Work, Sanding Projects, Pets, Burning Candles, Tobacco Smoke and Fireplace/Wood-Burning Stove Smoke. In addition, running your furnace or air conditioning fan continuously will help clean the air in your home, but could further shorten the life of the filter. So, if you use a furnace filter under these conditions, it could begin to restrict airflow, especially in energy efficient furnace and air conditioning systems. In these cases, it is recommended that you change the filter more frequently.
This filter's actual size is 20" x 24 5/8" x 4 1/4". This furnace filter is specifically designed to fit Honeywell 20x25x5 whole house air cleaning units. If you have a concern regarding whether this filter will fit in your system, you should check the actual dimensions of your filter housing or the filter you are replacing. This filter should fit in your system if the actual size of the filter is the same or very similar to the size of the filter you are replacing.
Find another size filter


text:
Deadline for Report on Business Climate ExtendedMaryland lawmakers have extended a deadline for a commission to submit a report on the state's business climate.
Task Force To Be Formed To Study Md. Jail ProblemsLeaders in the Maryland General Assembly will appoint a special task force to identify legislative and budgetary measures to address contraband and corruption problems identified at the Baltimore City Detention Center in a federal indictment last week.
O'Malley To Meet With House Speaker And Senate President On Gambling Expansion To Table GamesGov. Martin O'Malley is set to meet with the presiding officers of the Legislature to discuss the prospects of holding a special session in the next few weeks to expand gambling.


text:
Research shows the sweet potato is an excellent energy food containing Vitamins A, B and C and other minerals. Since Vitamin A is associated with yellow coloring, the varieties deeper in color contain more of this vitamin than the whiter ones. The sweet potato is mild in flavor and combines nicely with many other foods.
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the Brunswick Beacon, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
If you are new to the award winning Brunswick Beacon and wish to get a subscription or simply gain access to our online content then please enter your ZIP code below and continue to setup your account.
ZIP Code: | |


text:
Eames House
203 Chautauqua Blvd
Pacific Palisades
Los Angeles
coordinates: 34.0296516,-118.5192947
open coordinates in google maps
open coordinates in apple map
Building names(s): Eames House / Case Study House No. 8
Architect/Designer: Charles & Ray Eames
more images:
Completion date: 1949
function(s): residential
EXTERIOR SELF-GUIDED TOUR – Visiting the INTERIOR of the Eames House is available ONCE A YEAR in June to Foundation members only.
You can, however, visit the grounds and the exterior of the House, but you do need to make an appointment by calling at least 48 hours in advance of your visit. Please call 310.459.9663 to schedule an appointment.
Monday through Friday: 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Saturday:10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
CLOSED: Sundays, celebrated holidays and holiday weekends.
getting there:
The Santa Monica Big Blue Bus #9 stops at the intersection of Corona Del Mar and Chautauqua Boulevard. Please check http:www.bigbluebus.com/bus for schedules.
head down private driveway marked 203/205 on your right. The Eames House is at the very absolute end of this driveway.
From downtown Los Angeles, take the Santa Monica Freeway Express Bus #10 to Santa Monica. Please check http:www.bigbluebus.com/bus for schedules.
website: www.eamesfoundation.org


text:
The Office of General Counsel Headquarters is located in the U.S Department of Commerce building in Washington, D.C. The office is headed by the General Counsel, Lois J. Schiffer. She is supported by Deputy General Counsel Mary Beth Ward and national level administrative and support staff.
NOAA Office of the General Counsel
Herbert C. Hoover Building
14th and Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, DC. 20230
Phone: 202/482-4080
Fax: 202/482-4893


text:
Transform the world around you into a variety of scenarios on our new 8-person Pulseworks Simulator! Choose from a roller coaster fantasy ride through the solar system, a carrier takeoff in an f-18 Super Hornet, plus more! You can find Experience Flight in the walkway leading to the Planetarium.
Flight 8-Person Simulator


text:
Jury set for woman charged in girl's abduction
- Article by: MARYCLAIRE DALE
- Associated Press
- August 18, 2014 - 6:30 PM
PHILADELPHIA — A jury was chosen Monday to hear a graphic trial about a 5-year-old girl abducted from her kindergarten classroom, raped in a brutal attack that left permanent injuries and abandoned at a playground on a cold January morning.
Former day care worker Christina Regusters, 21, is the only person charged so far in the crime.
Police believe she donned Muslim garb to pose as the child's mother and remove her from class, telling a substitute she was taking the girl out for breakfast. A school security camera shows the imposter holding the girl's hand as they leave school.
The brazenness of the crime stunned the city, and many of the prospective jurors questioned Monday said they had read or heard something about it. However, 12 jurors and four alternates were selected throughout the day, some of whom said they knew about the case but could judge it fairly.
One prospective juror said the children's nonprofit where he worked reviewed its school safety plan after the abduction. The defense quickly struck him from the panel.
Opening statements are expected Thursday, after pretrial motions and time set aside to line up witnesses, some of whom are being brought to court through the use of bench warrants, perhaps suggesting their reluctance to cooperate.
A gag order imposed Monday prevents lawyers from commenting on the warrants.
Regusters, who was 19 when she was charged, has been in custody for more than a year on $4 million bail. She worked at a day care center which the victim attended.
Defense lawyer W. Fred Harrison Jr. hopes to unearth new evidence about the case from witnesses during the two-week trial. Bench warrants are being issued to get some of them to court. The young victim, now 7, is also set to testify.
The girl was blindfolded during much of the 18-hour ordeal. She was found partially clothed and shivering under playground equipment, and told the person who found her, "I've been stolen."
She later told police details of the house where she was held — including the presence of a talking bird — that ultimately helped them make an arrest.
Regusters is charged with 11 counts including kidnapping, rape and false imprisonment.
The girl's family has filed a lawsuit accusing the school district of "reckless indifference."
© 2017 Star Tribune


text:
Parenting and Adoption: Mission or Relationship?
Tuesday, 7 August 2012
I'm not sure if it's the smell in the air, the feeling after the holidays or the letdown of post-Christmas that makes it hit me every January.
But every January, without fail, a weight settles in.
I wrestle with it for days, even a week or two, and then it finally dawns on me: Oh. My dad. He died January 25.
Even when my conscious brain isn't registering the reason, my body remembers. She remembers and she starts preparing for grief, for shock, for pain. It's been 13 long years, and it still hasn't faded. Every January, the familiar, bewildering weight. The depression. The fog.
And when I realize what it is at last, there's nothing to do but to sit with it. I just have to let myself feel the loss again.
* * *
Three years and three days ago, we brought an African baby home to cold, dry, unfamiliar Minnesota. We brought him from Uganda — land of red dirt and stunning beauty; of honesty and pain and wonder and staggering contrasts. Of warmth and light. The only land he had ever known.
In the jubilant homecoming airport scene, he was scream-laughing and making everyone smile so hard it hurt. His body was electric, shaking, excited, overstimulated, overtired. He was just 9 months old. It was a lot to take in.
Now we are three years later and I swear to you: His body remembers.
These last weeks have been full of heightened anxiety, of acting out, of impulsive action, of tantrums and neediness. There have been many more questions about "my 'nother mommy" and of Uganda, of his beginnings and identity and story. We've looked at pictures of our days together there, of kicking in the bath basin, of walking around the guesthouse grounds, of his auntie. He looks at the pictures and tells me he was sad.
He's only 3. This is the first year there have been enough words to explore the feelings, I think.
And I want to give it all to him, I want to fix it, I want to reach the hurt places and wrap them in love, love, love.
But I can't touch all of it, because it doesn't belong to me. I have to let him sit with it. I have to let him feel the ache of loss. It's only after he feels it, explores it, gives it a name before we can get back to the ordinary business of gradual redemption.


text:
Measuring Customers Loyalty of Islamic Banking in Bahawalpur Region
Purpose: The basic purpose of measuring the customer's loyalty in Islamic banking in Bahawalpur region is their long term commitment.
Design/methodology/approach: This research has been conducted utilizing the actual data with the help of a questionnaire based on the literature extensively written on Islamic banking services, to develop a viable model to explore the attributes which lead towards the customer loyalty in utilizing the financial services of Islamic banks in Bahawalpur region. A new dimension is added by conducting research on customer's loyalty in Islamic banking in Bahawalpur region, taking sample of 125 respondents from 20 banks operating in Islamic banking services of this region.
Findings: Factors abstracted from the customers loyalty are, customers satisfaction, switching cost, customers perception, success philosophy and trust and commitment. It is found that these factors significantly affect the customer's loyalty in Islamic banking and are greatly associated with the customer's loyalty.
Research limitations/ implication: Only available material is studied in spite of all the material and research is implicated in Bahawalpur region only. The sample size is small to only 125 respondents but the results are implicated on overall customer's loyalty in Islamic banking.
Practical implications: Pakistani banks are needed to take initiative in creating awareness about Islamic banking and providing more effective services.
Originality/ value: This is one of the very first researches on customers loyalty in Islamic banking conducted in Bahawalpur region and could be very useful for countries adopting Islamic banking.
Key words: Customers loyalty, Islamic banking.
Full Text:
PDFDOI: https://doi.org/10.5296/ijld.v2i2.1593
- There are currently no refbacks.
To make sure that you can receive messages from us, please add the 'macrothink.org' domain to your e-mail 'safe list'. If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox', check your 'bulk mail' or 'junk mail' folders.
Copyright © Macrothink Institute ISSN 2164-4063
'Macrothink Institute' is a trademark of Macrothink Institute, Inc.


text:
I am a nature lover. I paint nature because I want to emphasize how lovely, fragile and vital it is. Since childhood I have been in awe of trees, mountains, and rivers. To me, nature is overpoweringly grand, a force to be revered. It evokes emotions and feelings of reverence and grace. Because I am a nature lover, a meadow wanderer, an adorer of trees, I am an environmentalist. I also like to investigate how the natural world works; how trees grow, how water flows, how patterns form. I paint the beauty that I see around me or in my imagination. I want to capture the beauty that exists even in unlikely places.
I consider myself an Abstract Landscape painter. When I paint, I ask myself how is this painting going to bring to the viewer an emotional connection with the natural world. I build and reveal a sense of place and movement in my landscapes by first using paint to lay down a background color, then a thick application of paint, charcoal, and ink to give the image depth and a sense of terrain. All of my paintings ask the viewer to consider the beauty, fragility and health of our environment.


text:
Yea, rhodes is the best cover corner, reminds me of Prince but with more athleticism..His vertical at the combine should be impressive..His run support isn't great, but the highlights show it's an area that he may be able to improve in. Prince and Xavier Rhodes locking down the outside. Reese needs to pick Rhodes in the first and Ogletree in the 2nd.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw9oHp46Yqs Definitely a lockdown corner?
I like him too but he's atrocious in run support which should be a big concern with the giants style of D. how is he in zone coverage? Prince can cover and tackle at a high level. although, if it went down like you have listed,,rhodes in 1st tree in the 2nd, only an idiot would complain.
The best tackler of the top prospects is probably Logan Ryan. Jonathan Banks may be the next, though that's not saying much as Trufant, Poyer. Wreh and Rhodes aren't exactly lighting it up in that category. I don't think that would be the overwhelming assessment in picking a corner.
In terms of Prince comparison, I would not say that Rhodes is more athletic than Prince. He doesn't look to have anywhere near the burst or speed Prince had. He just has the far better ball skills which allows him to make the better play on the ball.


text:
this wiki
Glaucus (Greek: Γλαῦκος) was a Greek prophetic sea-god, born mortal and turned immortal upon eating a magical herb. It was believed that he commonly came to the rescue of sailors and fishermen in storms, having once been one himself.
Glaucus' parentage is different in the different traditions, which Athenaeus lists [1]:
- Theolytus the Methymnaean, in his Bacchic Odes - Copeus
- Promathides of Heraclea, in his Half Iambics - Polybus of Sicyon and Euboea
- Mnaseas, in Book III of his History of the Affairs of Europe - Anthedon and Alcyone
- Euanthes, in his Hymn to Glaucus - Poseidon and a Naiad nymph
The story of Glaucus' deification was dealt with in detail by Ovid and briefly referenced by many other authors[2]. According to Ovid[3], Glaucus began his life as a mortal fisherman living in the Boeotian city of Anthedon. He discovered by accident a magical herb which could bring the fish he caught back to life, and decided to try eating it. The herb made him immortal, but also caused him to grow fins instead of arms and a fish's tail instead of legs (though some versions say he simply became a merman[4]), forcing him to dwell forever in the sea. Glaucus was initially upset by this side-effect, but Oceanus and Tethys received him well and he was quickly accepted among the deities of the sea, learning from them the art of prophecy.
John Tzetzes adds to the above story that Glaucus became "immortal, but not immune to aging"[5].
In an alternate, non-extant version cited in Athenaeus (with reference to Nicander's Aetolian History), Glaucus chased a hare on mount Oreia until the animal fell down almost dead, then carried his prey to a spring and rubbed it with a bunch of grass that was growing about. The herb brought the hare back to life. Glaucus then tasted it himself and fell into a state of "divine madness", in which state Zeus made him fling himself into the stormy sea.[1]
Athenaeus also informs that in yet another version followed by Possis of Magnesia, Glaucus (rather than Argus) was the builder and the pilot of Argo. During a naval battle between the Argonauts and the Etruscans, he fell into the sea and by the will of Zeus became a sea god.[1]
The herb
Alexander of Aetolia, cited in Athenaeus, related that the magical herb grew on the island Thrinacia sacred to Helios and served as a remedy against fatigue for the sun god's horses. Aeschrion of Samos informed that it was known as the "dog's-tooth" and was believed to have been sowed by Cronus.[1]
Prophetic abilities
Athenaeus, referring to Aristotle's non-extant Constitution of Delos, related that Glaucus settled in Delos together with the Nereids and would give prophecies to whoever asked for them. He also mentions, this time with reference to Nicander, that Apollo was believed to have learned the art of prophecy from Glaucus.[1]
Advisor to seafarers
An encounter of Glaucus with the Argonauts was described by Diodorus Siculus[6] and Philostratus the Elder[7]. When the Argonauts were caught in a storm, Orpheus addressed the Cabeiroi with prayer; the wind ceased, and Glaucus appeared. He followed the Argo for two days and prophesied to Heracles and the Dioscuri their future adventures and eventual deification. He addressed other members of the crew individually as well, especially noting that he was sent to them thanks to Orpheus' prayer, and instructing them to further pray to the Cabeiroi. In Apollonius Rhodius' version, Glaucus appeared at the point when Telamon quarreled with Jason over Heracles and Polyphemus being left behind on the coast of Bithynia where Hylas had been lost. Glaucus reconciled the two by letting them know that it had been ordained for Heracles to return to Eurystheus' court and complete his Twelve Labours, and for Polyphemus to found Cius, while Hylas had been abducted by a nymph and married her[8]. Cf. also above for the version that made Glaucus an Argonaut himself.
In Euripides' play Orestes Glaucus announced to Menelaus the death of his brother Agamemnon by the hand of Clytaemnestra[9].
Love life
According to Ovid and Hyginus, Glaucus fell in love with the beautiful nymph Scylla and wanted her for his wife, but she was appalled by his fish-like features and fled onto land when he tried to approach her. He asked the witch Circe for a potion to make Scylla fall in love with him, but Circe fell in love with him instead. She tried to win his heart with her most passionate and loving words, telling him to scorn Scylla and stay with her. But he replied that trees would grow on the ocean floor and seaweed would grow on the highest mountain before he would stop loving Scylla. In her anger, Circe poisoned the pool where Scylla bathed, transforming her into a terrible monster with twelve feet and six heads.[10][11]
Euanthes and Theolytus of Methymna also recorded an affair between Glaucus and Ariadne: according to Athenaeus who cites these authors, Glaucus seduced Ariadne as she was abandoned by Theseus on Dia (Naxos). Dionysus then fought Glaucus over Ariadne and overpowered him, binding his hands and feet with grape vines; he, however, released Glaucus when the latter disclosed his own name and origin.[1]
According to Mnaseas, again cited in Athenaeus, Glaucus abducted Syme on a journey back from Asia, and had the island Syme named after her; according to Aeschrion of Samos, Glaucus was the lover of the semi-historical Hydne[1].
Glaucus was reported to have had male lovers as well: Nicander in Europia mentioned Nereus as one, while Hedylus of Samos (or Athens) wrote that it was out of love for Melicertes that Glaucus threw himself into the sea. Yet according to Nicanor of Cyrene's Change of Names, Glaucus and the deified Melicertes were one and the same.[1]
It is not known if Glaucus had any children, but Pausanias mentions Glaucus of Carystus as an alleged descendant of Glaucus the sea god.[12] Virgil seems to indicate the Cumaean Sibyl, Deiphobe, as a daughter of Glaucus.[13]
In literature and art
Aeschylus wrote a play on Glaucus, entitled Glaucus Pontius ("Glaucus of the Sea"), now lost[14]. A work entitled Glaucus also belonged to Callimachus[15] (it is unclear though which Glaucus was its subject).
The Roman author Velleius Paterculus made mention of Plancus, who performed in the role of Glaucus at a feast.[16]
Scylla et Glaucus, an opera by Jean-Marie Leclair, was based on the myth of Glaucus' love for Scylla recorded by Ovid.
A statue of Glaucus was installed in 1911 in the middle of the Fontana delle Naiadi, Mario Rutelli's fountain of four naked bronze nymphs, located in the Piazza Repubblica, Rome.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Athenaeus, Banquet of the Learned, 7. 294C (pp. 328 - 333)
- ↑ Pausanias, Description of Greece 9. 22. 7; Nonnus, Dionysiaca 35. 72 ff; Ovid, Heroides 18. 160; Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, 1. 1310; Servius on Virgil's Georgics, 1. 437; Statius, Thebaid 7. 335 ff
- ↑ Metamorphoses, 8. 917 - 959
- ↑ As appears from his physical description in Philostratus the Elder, Imagines, 2. 15
- ↑ Tzetzes on Lycophron, 754
- ↑ Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 48. 6
- ↑ Philostratus the Elder, Imagines 2. 15
- ↑ Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, 1. 1311 ff
- ↑ Euripides, Orestes 362 ff
- ↑ Metamorphoses, 13. 898 - 14. 74
- ↑ Hyginus, Fabulae, 199
- ↑ Pausanias, Description of Greece 6. 10. 1
- ↑ Aeneid, 6. 36
- ↑ Surviving fragments at Classical E-Text
- ↑ Suda s. v. Kallimakhos
- ↑ Velleius Paterculus, Historiae Romanae, 2. 83
- Smith, William (ed.) Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. II. London, 1867. - p. 275
- Theoi.com - Glaukos
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original article was at Glaucus. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. |


text:
Radioactive waste
Radioactive waste is waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is usually a by-product of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine. Radioactive waste is hazardous to most forms of life and the environment, and is regulated by government agencies in order to protect human health and the environment.
Radioactivity naturally decays over time, so radioactive waste has to be isolated and confined in appropriate disposal facilities for a sufficient period until it no longer poses a threat. The time radioactive waste must be stored for depends on the type of waste and radioactive isotopes. Current approaches to managing radioactive waste have been segregation and storage for short-lived waste, near-surface disposal for low and some intermediate level waste, and deep burial or partitioning / transmutation for the high-level waste.
A summary of the amounts of radioactive waste and management approaches for most developed countries are presented and reviewed periodically as part of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management.[1]
Nature and significance of radioactive waste[edit]
Radioactive waste typically comprises a number of radionuclides: unstable configurations of elements that decay, emitting ionizing radiation which can be harmful to humans and the environment. These isotopes emit different types and levels of radiation, which last for different periods of time.
Prop: Unit: |
t½ (a) |
Yield (%) |
Q * (keV) |
βγ * |
155Eu | 4.76 | 0.0803 | 252 | βγ |
85Kr | 10.76 | 0.2180 | 687 | βγ |
113mCd | 14.1 | 0.0008 | 316 | β |
90Sr | 28.9 | 4.505 | 2826 | β |
137Cs | 30.23 | 6.337 | 1176 | βγ |
121mSn | 43.9 | 0.00005 | 390 | βγ |
151Sm | 96.6 | 0.5314 | 77 | β |
Prop: Unit: |
t½ (Ma) |
Yield (%) |
Q * (keV) |
βγ * |
99Tc | 0.211 | 6.1385 | 294 | β |
126Sn | 0.230 | 0.1084 | 4050 | βγ |
79Se | 0.327 | 0.0447 | 151 | β |
93Zr | 1.53 | 5.4575 | 91 | βγ |
135Cs | 2.3 | 6.9110 | 269 | β |
107Pd | 6.5 | 1.2499 | 33 | β |
129I | 15.7 | 0.8410 | 194 | βγ |
Hover underlined: more info |
The radioactivity of all radioactive waste diminishes with time. All radionuclides contained in the waste have a half-life—the time it takes for half of the atoms to decay into another nuclide—and eventually all radioactive waste decays into non-radioactive elements (i.e., stable nuclides). Certain radioactive elements (such as plutonium-239) will remain hazardous to humans and other creatures for hundreds or thousands of years. Other radionuclides remain radioactive for millions of years (though most of these products have so little activity as a result of their long half-lives that their radiation is lost in the background level). Thus, these wastes must be shielded for centuries and isolated from the living environment for millennia.[2] Since radioactive decay follows the half-life rule, the rate of decay is inversely proportional to the duration of decay. In other words, the radiation from a long-lived isotope like iodine-129 will be much less intense than that of a short-lived isotope like iodine-131.[3] The two tables show some of the major radioisotopes, their half-lives, and their radiation yield as a proportion of the yield of fission of uranium-235.
The energy and the type of the ionizing radiation emitted by a radioactive substance are also important factors in determining its threat to humans.[4] The chemical properties of the radioactive element will determine how mobile the substance is and how likely it is to spread into the environment and contaminate humans.[5] This is further complicated by the fact that many radioisotopes do not decay immediately to a stable state but rather to radioactive decay products within a decay chain before ultimately reaching a stable state.
Actinides and fission products by half-life
Actinides[6] by decay chain | Half-life range (y) |
Fission products of 235U by yield[7] | ||||||
4n | 4n+1 | 4n+2 | 4n+3 | |||||
4.5–7% | 0.04–1.25% | <0.001% | ||||||
228Ra№ | 4–6 | † | 155Euþ | |||||
244Cmƒ | 241Puƒ | 250Cf | 227Ac№ | 10–29 | 90Sr | 85Kr | 113mCdþ | |
232Uƒ | 238Puƒ№ | 243Cmƒ | 29–97 | 137Cs | 151Smþ | 121mSn | ||
248Bk[8] | 249Cfƒ | 242mAmƒ | 141–351 |
No fission products |
241Amƒ | 251Cfƒ[9] | 430–900 | ||||||
226Ra№ | 247Bk | 1.3 k – 1.6 k | ||||||
240Puƒ№ | 229Th№ | 246Cmƒ | 243Amƒ | 4.7 k – 7.4 k | ||||
245Cmƒ | 250Cm | 8.3 k – 8.5 k | ||||||
239Puƒ№ | 24.1 k | |||||||
230Th№ | 231Pa№ | 32 k – 76 k | ||||||
236Npƒ | 233Uƒ№ | 234U№ | 150 k – 250 k | ‡ | 99Tc₡ | 126Sn | ||
248Cm | 242Puƒ | 327 k – 375 k | 79Se₡ | |||||
1.53 M | 93Zr | |||||||
237Npƒ№ | 2.1 M – 6.5 M | 135Cs₡ | 107Pd | |||||
236U№ | 247Cmƒ | 15 M – 24 M | 129I₡ | |||||
244Pu№ | 80 M |
... nor beyond 15.7 M years[10] |
232Th№ | 238U№ | 235Uƒ№ | 0.7 G – 14.1 G | |||||
Legend for superscript symbols |
Exposure to radioactive waste may cause serious harm or death. In humans, a dose of 1 sievert carries a 5.5% risk of developing cancer,[11] and this risk is assumed to be linearly proportional to dose even for low doses. Ionizing radiation causes deletions in chromosomes.[12] If a developing organism such as an unborn child is irradiated, it is possible a birth defect may be induced, but it is unlikely this defect will be in a gamete or a gamete-forming cell. The incidence of radiation-induced mutations in humans is small, as in most mammals, because of natural cellular-repair mechanisms, many just now coming to light. These mechanisms range from DNA, mRNA and protein repair, to internal lysosomic digestion of defective proteins, and even induced cell suicide—apoptosis[13]
Depending on the decay mode and the pharmacokinetics of an element (how the body processes it and how quickly), the threat due to exposure to a given activity of a radioisotope will differ. For instance iodine-131 is a short-lived beta and gamma emitter, but because it concentrates in the thyroid gland, it is more able to cause injury than caesium-137 which, being water soluble, is rapidly excreted in urine. In a similar way, the alpha emitting actinides and radium are considered very harmful as they tend to have long biological half-lives and their radiation has a high relative biological effectiveness, making it far more damaging to tissues per amount of energy deposited. Because of such differences, the rules determining biological injury differ widely according to the radioisotope, time of exposure and sometimes also the nature of the chemical compound which contains the radioisotope.
Sources of waste[edit]
Radioactive waste comes from a number of sources. In countries with nuclear power plants, nuclear armament, or nuclear fuel treatment plants, the majority of waste originates from the nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear weapons reprocessing, otherwise there is no waste of nuclear origin.[citation needed] Other sources include medical and industrial wastes, as well as naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) that can be concentrated as a result of the processing or consumption of coal, oil and gas, and some minerals, as discussed below.
Nuclear fuel cycle[edit]
Front end[edit]
Waste from the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle is usually alpha-emitting waste from the extraction of uranium. It often contains radium and its decay products.
Uranium dioxide (UO2) concentrate from mining is not very radioactive – only a thousand or so times as radioactive as the granite used in buildings. It is refined from yellowcake (U3O8), then converted to uranium hexafluoride gas (UF6). As a gas, it undergoes enrichment to increase the U-235 content from 0.7% to about 4.4% (LEU). It is then turned into a hard ceramic oxide (UO2) for assembly as reactor fuel elements.[14]
The main by-product of enrichment is depleted uranium (DU), principally the U-238 isotope, with a U-235 content of ~0.3%. It is stored, either as UF6 or as U3O8. Some is used in applications where its extremely high density makes it valuable such as anti-tank shells, even sailboat keels on at least one occasion.[15] It is also used with plutonium for making mixed oxide fuel (MOX) and to dilute, or downblend, highly enriched uranium from weapons stockpiles which is now being redirected to become reactor fuel.
Back end[edit]
The back end of the nuclear fuel cycle, mostly spent fuel rods, contains fission products that emit beta and gamma radiation, and actinides that emit alpha particles, such as uranium-234, neptunium-237, plutonium-238 and americium-241, and even sometimes some neutron emitters such as californium (Cf). These isotopes are formed in nuclear reactors.
It is important to distinguish the processing of uranium to make fuel from the reprocessing of used fuel. Used fuel contains the highly radioactive products of fission (see high level waste below). Many of these are neutron absorbers, called neutron poisons in this context. These eventually build up to a level where they absorb so many neutrons that the chain reaction stops, even with the control rods completely removed. At that point the fuel has to be replaced in the reactor with fresh fuel, even though there is still a substantial quantity of uranium-235 and plutonium present. In the United States, this used fuel is usually "stored", while in other countries such as Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Japan and India, the fuel is reprocessed to remove the fission products, and the fuel can then be re-used, thus cutting costs, reducing health risks, saving time, and in general being far safer.[16] The fission products removed from the fuel are a concentrated form of high-level waste as are the chemicals used in the process. While these countries reprocess the fuel carrying out single plutonium cycles, India is the only country known to be planning multiple plutonium recycling schemes.[17]
Fuel composition and long term radioactivity[edit]
Long-lived radioactive waste from the back end of the fuel cycle is especially relevant when designing a complete waste management plan for spent nuclear fuel (SNF). When looking at long term radioactive decay, the actinides in the SNF have a significant influence due to their characteristically long half-lives. Depending on what a nuclear reactor is fueled with, the actinide composition in the SNF will be different.
An example of this effect is the use of nuclear fuels with thorium. Th-232 is a fertile material that can undergo a neutron capture reaction and two beta minus decays, resulting in the production of fissile U-233. The SNF of a cycle with thorium will contain U-233. Its radioactive decay will strongly influence the long-term activity curve of the SNF around 1 million years. A comparison of the activity associated to U-233 for three different SNF types can be seen in the figure on the top right.
The burnt fuels are thorium with reactor-grade plutonium (RGPu), thorium with weapons-grade plutonium (WGPu) and Mixed Oxide fuel (MOX). For RGPu and WGPu, the initial amount of U-233 and its decay around 1 million years can be seen. This has an effect in the total activity curve of the three fuel types. The absence of U-233 and its daughter products in the MOX fuel results in a lower activity in region 3 of the figure on the bottom right, whereas for RGPu and WGPu the curve is maintained higher due to the presence of U-233 that has not fully decayed.
The use of different fuels in nuclear reactors results in different SNF composition, with varying activity curves.
Proliferation concerns[edit]
Since uranium and plutonium are nuclear weapons materials, there have been proliferation concerns. Ordinarily (in spent nuclear fuel), plutonium is reactor-grade plutonium. In addition to plutonium-239, which is highly suitable for building nuclear weapons, it contains large amounts of undesirable contaminants: plutonium-240, plutonium-241, and plutonium-238. These isotopes are extremely difficult to separate, and more cost-effective ways of obtaining fissile material exist (e.g. uranium enrichment or dedicated plutonium production reactors).[18]
High-level waste is full of highly radioactive fission products, most of which are relatively short-lived. This is a concern since if the waste is stored, perhaps in deep geological storage, over many years the fission products decay, decreasing the radioactivity of the waste and making the plutonium easier to access. The undesirable contaminant Pu-240 decays faster than the Pu-239, and thus the quality of the bomb material increases with time (although its quantity decreases during that time as well). Thus, some have argued, as time passes, these deep storage areas have the potential to become "plutonium mines", from which material for nuclear weapons can be acquired with relatively little difficulty. Critics of the latter idea have pointed out the difficulty of recovering useful material from sealed deep storage areas makes other methods preferable. Specifically, the high radioactivity and heat (80 C in surrounding rock) greatly increases the difficulty of mining a storage area, and the enrichment methods required have high capital costs.[19]
Pu-239 decays to U-235 which is suitable for weapons and which has a very long half-life (roughly 109 years). Thus plutonium may decay and leave uranium-235. However, modern reactors are only moderately enriched with U-235 relative to U-238, so the U-238 continues to serve as a denaturation agent for any U-235 produced by plutonium decay.
One solution to this problem is to recycle the plutonium and use it as a fuel e.g. in fast reactors. In pyrometallurgical fast reactors, the separated plutonium and uranium are contaminated by actinides and cannot be used for nuclear weapons.
Nuclear weapons decommissioning[edit]
Waste from nuclear weapons decommissioning is unlikely to contain much beta or gamma activity other than tritium and americium. It is more likely to contain alpha-emitting actinides such as Pu-239 which is a fissile material used in bombs, plus some material with much higher specific activities, such as Pu-238 or Po.
In the past the neutron trigger for an atomic bomb tended to be beryllium and a high activity alpha emitter such as polonium; an alternative to polonium is Pu-238. For reasons of national security, details of the design of modern bombs are normally not released to the open literature.
Some designs might contain a radioisotope thermoelectric generator using Pu-238 to provide a long lasting source of electrical power for the electronics in the device.
It is likely that the fissile material of an old bomb which is due for refitting will contain decay products of the plutonium isotopes used in it, these are likely to include U-236 from Pu-240 impurities, plus some U-235 from decay of the Pu-239; due to the relatively long half-life of these Pu isotopes, these wastes from radioactive decay of bomb core material would be very small, and in any case, far less dangerous (even in terms of simple radioactivity) than the Pu-239 itself.
The beta decay of Pu-241 forms Am-241; the in-growth of americium is likely to be a greater problem than the decay of Pu-239 and Pu-240 as the americium is a gamma emitter (increasing external-exposure to workers) and is an alpha emitter which can cause the generation of heat. The plutonium could be separated from the americium by several different processes; these would include pyrochemical processes and aqueous/organic solvent extraction. A truncated PUREX type extraction process would be one possible method of making the separation. Naturally occurring uranium is not fissile because it contains 99.3% of U-238 and only 0.7% of U-235.
Legacy waste[edit]
Due to historic activities typically related to radium industry, uranium mining, and military programs, numerous sites contain or are contaminated with radioactivity. In the United States alone, the Department of Energy states there are "millions of gallons of radioactive waste" as well as "thousands of tons of spent nuclear fuel and material" and also "huge quantities of contaminated soil and water."[20] Despite copious quantities of waste, the DOE has stated a goal of cleaning all presently contaminated sites successfully by 2025.[20] The Fernald, Ohio site for example had "31 million pounds of uranium product", "2.5 billion pounds of waste", "2.75 million cubic yards of contaminated soil and debris", and a "223 acre portion of the underlying Great Miami Aquifer had uranium levels above drinking standards."[20] The United States has at least 108 sites designated as areas that are contaminated and unusable, sometimes many thousands of acres.[20][21] DOE wishes to clean or mitigate many or all by 2025, using the recently developed method of geomelting,[citation needed] however the task can be difficult and it acknowledges that some may never be completely remediated. In just one of these 108 larger designations, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, there were for example at least "167 known contaminant release sites" in one of the three subdivisions of the 37,000-acre (150 km2) site.[20] Some of the U.S. sites were smaller in nature, however, cleanup issues were simpler to address, and DOE has successfully completed cleanup, or at least closure, of several sites.[20]
Radioactive medical waste tends to contain beta particle and gamma ray emitters. It can be divided into two main classes. In diagnostic nuclear medicine a number of short-lived gamma emitters such as technetium-99m are used. Many of these can be disposed of by leaving it to decay for a short time before disposal as normal waste. Other isotopes used in medicine, with half-lives in parentheses, include:
- Y-90, used for treating lymphoma (2.7 days)
- I-131, used for thyroid function tests and for treating thyroid cancer (8.0 days)
- Sr-89, used for treating bone cancer, intravenous injection (52 days)
- Ir-192, used for brachytherapy (74 days)
- Co-60, used for brachytherapy and external radiotherapy (5.3 years)
- Cs-137, used for brachytherapy, external radiotherapy (30 years)
Industrial source waste can contain alpha, beta, neutron or gamma emitters. Gamma emitters are used in radiography while neutron emitting sources are used in a range of applications, such as oil well logging.[22]
Naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM)[edit]
Substances containing natural radioactivity are known as NORM. After human processing that exposes or concentrates this natural radioactivity (such as mining bringing coal to the surface or burning it to produce concentrated ash), it becomes technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material (TENORM).[24] A lot of this waste is alpha particle-emitting matter from the decay chains of uranium and thorium. The main source of radiation in the human body is potassium-40 (40K), typically 17 milligrams in the body at a time and 0.4 milligrams/day intake.[25] Most rocks, due to their components, have a low level of radioactivity. Usually ranging from 1 millisievert (mSv) to 13 mSv annually depending on location, average radiation exposure from natural radioisotopes is 2.0 mSv per person a year worldwide.[26] This makes up the majority of typical total dosage (with mean annual exposure from other sources amounting to 0.6 mSv from medical tests averaged over the whole populace, 0.4 mSv from cosmic rays, 0.005 mSv from the legacy of past atmospheric nuclear testing, 0.005 mSv occupational exposure, 0.002 mSv from the Chernobyl disaster, and 0.0002 mSv from the nuclear fuel cycle).[26]
TENORM is not regulated as restrictively as nuclear reactor waste, though there are no significant differences in the radiological risks of these materials.[27]
Coal contains a small amount of radioactive uranium, barium, thorium and potassium, but, in the case of pure coal, this is significantly less than the average concentration of those elements in the Earth's crust. The surrounding strata, if shale or mudstone, often contain slightly more than average and this may also be reflected in the ash content of 'dirty' coals.[23][28] The more active ash minerals become concentrated in the fly ash precisely because they do not burn well.[23] The radioactivity of fly ash is about the same as black shale and is less than phosphate rocks, but is more of a concern because a small amount of the fly ash ends up in the atmosphere where it can be inhaled.[29] According to U.S. NCRP reports, population exposure from 1000-MWe power plants amounts to 490 person-rem/year for coal power plants, 100 times as great as nuclear power plants (4.8 person-rem/year). (The exposure from the complete nuclear fuel cycle from mining to waste disposal is 136 person-rem/year; the corresponding value for coal use from mining to waste disposal is "probably unknown".)[23]
Oil and gas[edit]
Residues from the oil and gas industry often contain radium and its decay products. The sulfate scale from an oil well can be very radium rich, while the water, oil and gas from a well often contain radon. The radon decays to form solid radioisotopes which form coatings on the inside of pipework. In an oil processing plant the area of the plant where propane is processed is often one of the more contaminated areas of the plant as radon has a similar boiling point to propane.[30]
Classification of radioactive waste[edit]
Classifications of radioactive waste varies by country. The IAEA, which publishes the Radioactive Waste Safety Standards (RADWASS), also plays a significant role.[31]
Uranium tailings[edit]
Uranium tailings are waste by-product materials left over from the rough processing of uranium-bearing ore. They are not significantly radioactive. Mill tailings are sometimes referred to as 11(e)2 wastes, from the section of the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 that defines them. Uranium mill tailings typically also contain chemically hazardous heavy metal such as lead and arsenic. Vast mounds of uranium mill tailings are left at many old mining sites, especially in Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.
Low-level waste[edit]
Low level waste (LLW) is generated from hospitals and industry, as well as the nuclear fuel cycle. Low-level wastes include paper, rags, tools, clothing, filters, and other materials which contain small amounts of mostly short-lived radioactivity. Materials that originate from any region of an Active Area are commonly designated as LLW as a precautionary measure even if there is only a remote possibility of being contaminated with radioactive materials. Such LLW typically exhibits no higher radioactivity than one would expect from the same material disposed of in a non-active area, such as a normal office block.
Some high-activity LLW requires shielding during handling and transport but most LLW is suitable for shallow land burial. To reduce its volume, it is often compacted or incinerated before disposal. Low-level waste is divided into four classes: class A, class B, class C, and Greater Than Class C (GTCC).
Intermediate-level waste[edit]
Intermediate-level waste (ILW) contains higher amounts of radioactivity and in general require shielding, but not cooling.[32] Intermediate-level wastes includes resins, chemical sludge and metal nuclear fuel cladding, as well as contaminated materials from reactor decommissioning. It may be solidified in concrete or bitumen for disposal. As a general rule, short-lived waste (mainly non-fuel materials from reactors) is buried in shallow repositories, while long-lived waste (from fuel and fuel reprocessing) is deposited in geological repository. U.S. regulations do not define this category of waste; the term is used in Europe and elsewhere.
High-level waste[edit]
High-level waste (HLW) is produced by nuclear reactors. The exact definition of HLW differs internationally. After a nuclear fuel rod serves one fuel cycle and is removed from the core, it is considered HLW.[33] Fuel rods contain fission products and transuranic elements generated in the reactor core. Spent fuel is highly radioactive and often hot. HLW accounts for over 95 percent of the total radioactivity produced in the process of nuclear electricity generation. The amount of HLW worldwide is currently increasing by about 12,000 metric tons every year, which is the equivalent to about 100 double-decker buses or a two-story structure with a footprint the size of a basketball court.[34] A 1000-MW nuclear power plant produces about 27 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel (unreprocessed) every year.[35] In 2010, there was very roughly estimated to be stored some 250,000 tons of nuclear HLW,[36] that does not include amounts that have escaped into the environment from accidents or tests. Japan estimated to hold 17,000 tons of HLW in storage in 2015.[37] HLW have been shipped to other countries to be stored or reprocessed, and in some cases, shipped back as active fuel.
The ongoing controversy over high-level radioactive waste disposal is a major constraint on the nuclear power's global expansion.[38] Most scientists agree[39] that the main proposed long-term solution is deep geological burial, either in a mine or a deep borehole. However, almost six decades after commercial nuclear energy began, no government has succeeded in opening such a repository for civilian high-level nuclear waste,[38] although Finland is in the advanced stage of the construction of such facility, the Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository. Reprocessing or recycling spent nuclear fuel options already available or under active development still generate waste and so are not a total solution, but can reduce the sheer quantity of waste, and there are many such active programs worldwide. Deep geological burial remains the only responsible way to deal with high-level nuclear waste.[40] The Morris Operation is currently the only de facto high-level radioactive waste storage site in the United States.
Transuranic waste[edit]
The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (November 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) |
Transuranic waste (TRUW) as defined by U.S. regulations is, without regard to form or origin, waste that is contaminated with alpha-emitting transuranic radionuclides with half-lives greater than 20 years and concentrations greater than 100 nCi/g (3.7 MBq/kg), excluding high-level waste. Elements that have an atomic number greater than uranium are called transuranic ("beyond uranium"). Because of their long half-lives, TRUW is disposed more cautiously than either low- or intermediate-level waste. In the U.S., it arises mainly from weapons production, and consists of clothing, tools, rags, residues, debris and other items contaminated with small amounts of radioactive elements (mainly plutonium).
Under U.S. law, transuranic waste is further categorized into "contact-handled" (CH) and "remote-handled" (RH) on the basis of the radiation dose rate measured at the surface of the waste container. CH TRUW has a surface dose rate not greater than 200 mrem per hour (2 mSv/h), whereas RH TRUW has a surface dose rate of 200 mrem/h (2 mSv/h) or greater. CH TRUW does not have the very high radioactivity of high-level waste, nor its high heat generation, but RH TRUW can be highly radioactive, with surface dose rates up to 1,000,000 mrem/h (10,000 mSv/h). The U.S. currently disposes of TRUW generated from military facilities at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in a deep salt formation in New Mexico.[41]
Prevention of waste[edit]
A theoretical way to reduce waste accumulation is to phase out current reactors in favour of Generation IV Reactors or Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors, which output less waste per power generated. Fast reactors can theoretically consume some existing waste. The UK's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority published a position paper in 2014 on the progress on approaches to the management of separated plutonium, which summarises the conclusions of the work that NDA shared with UK government.[42]
Management of waste[edit]
Of particular concern in nuclear waste management are two long-lived fission products, Tc-99 (half-life 220,000 years) and I-129 (half-life 15.7 million years), which dominate spent fuel radioactivity after a few thousand years. The most troublesome transuranic elements in spent fuel are Np-237 (half-life two million years) and Pu-239 (half-life 24,000 years).[43] Nuclear waste requires sophisticated treatment and management to successfully isolate it from interacting with the biosphere. This usually necessitates treatment, followed by a long-term management strategy involving storage, disposal or transformation of the waste into a non-toxic form.[44] Governments around the world are considering a range of waste management and disposal options, though there has been limited progress toward long-term waste management solutions.[45]
In second half of 20th century, several methods of disposal of radioactive waste were investigated by nuclear nations,[46] which are :
- "Long term above ground storage", not implemented.
- "Disposal in outer space" (for instance, inside the Sun), not implemented - as it would be currently too expensive.
- "Deep borehole disposal", not implemented.
- "Rock-melting", not implemented.
- "Disposal at subduction zones", not implemented.
- "Ocean disposal", done by the USSR, the United Kingdom,[47] Switzerland, the United States, Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Russia, Germany, Italy and South Korea. (1954–93) This is no longer permitted by international agreements.
- "Sub seabed disposal", not implemented, not permitted by international agreements.
- "Disposal in ice sheets", rejected in Antarctic Treaty
- "Direct injection", done by USSR and USA.
In the USA, waste management policy completely broke down with the ending of work on the incomplete Yucca Mountain Repository.[48] At present there are 70 nuclear power plant sites where spent fuel is stored. A Blue Ribbon Commission was appointed by President Obama to look into future options for this and future waste. A deep geological repository seems to be favored.[48]
Initial treatment of waste[edit]
Long-term storage of radioactive waste requires the stabilization of the waste into a form which will neither react nor degrade for extended periods. It is theorized that one way to do this might be through vitrification.[49] Currently at Sellafield the high-level waste (PUREX first cycle raffinate) is mixed with sugar and then calcined. Calcination involves passing the waste through a heated, rotating tube. The purposes of calcination are to evaporate the water from the waste, and de-nitrate the fission products to assist the stability of the glass produced.[50]
The 'calcine' generated is fed continuously into an induction heated furnace with fragmented glass.[51] The resulting glass is a new substance in which the waste products are bonded into the glass matrix when it solidifies. As a melt, this product is poured into stainless steel cylindrical containers ("cylinders") in a batch process. When cooled, the fluid solidifies ("vitrifies") into the glass. After being formed, the glass is highly resistant to water.[52]
After filling a cylinder, a seal is welded onto the cylinder head. The cylinder is then washed. After being inspected for external contamination, the steel cylinder is stored, usually in an underground repository. In this form, the waste products are expected to be immobilized for thousands of years.[53]
The glass inside a cylinder is usually a black glossy substance. All this work (in the United Kingdom) is done using hot cell systems. Sugar is added to control the ruthenium chemistry and to stop the formation of the volatile RuO4 containing radioactive ruthenium isotopes. In the West, the glass is normally a borosilicate glass (similar to Pyrex), while in the former Soviet bloc it is normal to use a phosphate glass.[54] The amount of fission products in the glass must be limited because some (palladium, the other Pt group metals, and tellurium) tend to form metallic phases which separate from the glass. Bulk vitrification uses electrodes to melt soil and wastes, which are then buried underground.[55] In Germany a vitrification plant is in use; this is treating the waste from a small demonstration reprocessing plant which has since been closed down.[50][56]
Ion exchange[edit]
It is common for medium active wastes in the nuclear industry to be treated with ion exchange or other means to concentrate the radioactivity into a small volume. The much less radioactive bulk (after treatment) is often then discharged. For instance, it is possible to use a ferric hydroxide floc to remove radioactive metals from aqueous mixtures.[57] After the radioisotopes are absorbed onto the ferric hydroxide, the resulting sludge can be placed in a metal drum before being mixed with cement to form a solid waste form.[58] In order to get better long-term performance (mechanical stability) from such forms, they may be made from a mixture of fly ash, or blast furnace slag, and Portland cement, instead of normal concrete (made with Portland cement, gravel and sand).
The Australian Synroc (synthetic rock) is a more sophisticated way to immobilize such waste, and this process may eventually come into commercial use for civil wastes (it is currently being developed for US military wastes). Synroc was invented by Prof Ted Ringwood (a geochemist) at the Australian National University.[59] The Synroc contains pyrochlore and cryptomelane type minerals. The original form of Synroc (Synroc C) was designed for the liquid high level waste (PUREX raffinate) from a light water reactor. The main minerals in this Synroc are hollandite (BaAl2Ti6O16), zirconolite (CaZrTi2O7) and perovskite (CaTiO3). The zirconolite and perovskite are hosts for the actinides. The strontium and barium will be fixed in the perovskite. The caesium will be fixed in the hollandite.
Long term management of waste[edit]
The time frame in question when dealing with radioactive waste ranges from 10,000 to 1,000,000 years,[60] according to studies based on the effect of estimated radiation doses.[61] Researchers suggest that forecasts of health detriment for such periods should be examined critically.[62] [63] Practical studies only consider up to 100 years as far as effective planning[64] and cost evaluations[65] are concerned. Long term behavior of radioactive wastes remains a subject for ongoing research projects in geoforecasting.[66]
Above-ground disposal[edit]
Dry cask storage typically involves taking waste from a spent fuel pool and sealing it (along with an inert gas) in a steel cylinder, which is placed in a concrete cylinder which acts as a radiation shield. It is a relatively inexpensive method which can be done at a central facility or adjacent to the source reactor. The waste can be easily retrieved for reprocessing.[67]
Geologic disposal[edit]
The process of selecting appropriate deep final repositories for high level waste and spent fuel is now under way in several countries with the first expected to be commissioned some time after 2010. The basic concept is to locate a large, stable geologic formation and use mining technology to excavate a tunnel, or large-bore tunnel boring machines (similar to those used to drill the Channel Tunnel from England to France) to drill a shaft 500 metres (1,600 ft) to 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) below the surface where rooms or vaults can be excavated for disposal of high-level radioactive waste. The goal is to permanently isolate nuclear waste from the human environment. Many people remain uncomfortable with the immediate stewardship cessation of this disposal system, suggesting perpetual management and monitoring would be more prudent.
Because some radioactive species have half-lives longer than one million years, even very low container leakage and radionuclide migration rates must be taken into account.[69] Moreover, it may require more than one half-life until some nuclear materials lose enough radioactivity to cease being lethal to living things. A 1983 review of the Swedish radioactive waste disposal program by the National Academy of Sciences found that country's estimate of several hundred thousand years—perhaps up to one million years—being necessary for waste isolation "fully justified."[70]
Ocean floor disposal of radioactive waste has been suggested by the finding that deep waters in the North Atlantic Ocean do not present an exchange with shallow waters for about 140 years based on oxygen content data recorded over a period of 25 years.[71] They include burial beneath a stable abyssal plain, burial in a subduction zone that would slowly carry the waste downward into the Earth's mantle,[72][73] and burial beneath a remote natural or human-made island. While these approaches all have merit and would facilitate an international solution to the problem of disposal of radioactive waste, they would require an amendment of the Law of the Sea.[74]
Article 1 (Definitions), 7., of the 1996 Protocol to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, (the London Dumping Convention) states:
- ""Sea" means all marine waters other than the internal waters of States, as well as the seabed and the subsoil thereof; it does not include sub-seabed repositories accessed only from land."
The proposed land-based subductive waste disposal method disposes of nuclear waste in a subduction zone accessed from land and therefore is not prohibited by international agreement. This method has been described as the most viable means of disposing of radioactive waste,[75] and as the state-of-the-art as of 2001 in nuclear waste disposal technology.[76] Another approach termed Remix & Return[77] would blend high-level waste with uranium mine and mill tailings down to the level of the original radioactivity of the uranium ore, then replace it in inactive uranium mines. This approach has the merits of providing jobs for miners who would double as disposal staff, and of facilitating a cradle-to-grave cycle for radioactive materials, but would be inappropriate for spent reactor fuel in the absence of reprocessing, due to the presence in it of highly toxic radioactive elements such as plutonium.
Deep borehole disposal is the concept of disposing of high-level radioactive waste from nuclear reactors in extremely deep boreholes. Deep borehole disposal seeks to place the waste as much as 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) beneath the surface of the Earth and relies primarily on the immense natural geological barrier to confine the waste safely and permanently so that it should never pose a threat to the environment. The Earth's crust contains 120 trillion tons of thorium and 40 trillion tons of uranium (primarily at relatively trace concentrations of parts per million each adding up over the crust's 3 * 1019 ton mass), among other natural radioisotopes.[78][79][80] Since the fraction of nuclides decaying per unit of time is inversely proportional to an isotope's half-life, the relative radioactivity of the lesser amount of human-produced radioisotopes (thousands of tons instead of trillions of tons) would diminish once the isotopes with far shorter half-lives than the bulk of natural radioisotopes decayed.
In January 2013, Cumbria county council rejected UK central government proposals to start work on an underground storage dump for nuclear waste near to the Lake District National Park. "For any host community, there will be a substantial community benefits package and worth hundreds of millions of pounds" said Ed Davey, Energy Secretary, but nonetheless, the local elected body voted 7–3 against research continuing, after hearing evidence from independent geologists that "the fractured strata of the county was impossible to entrust with such dangerous material and a hazard lasting millennia."[81][82]
There have been proposals for reactors that consume nuclear waste and transmute it to other, less-harmful or shorter-lived, nuclear waste. In particular, the Integral Fast Reactor was a proposed nuclear reactor with a nuclear fuel cycle that produced no transuranic waste and in fact, could consume transuranic waste. It proceeded as far as large-scale tests, but was then canceled by the US Government. Another approach, considered safer but requiring more development, is to dedicate subcritical reactors to the transmutation of the left-over transuranic elements.
An isotope that is found in nuclear waste and that represents a concern in terms of proliferation is Pu-239. The estimated world total of plutonium in the year 2000 was of 1,645 metric tons, of which 210 metric tons had been separated by reprocessing.[citation needed] The large stock of plutonium is a result of its production inside uranium-fueled reactors and of the reprocessing of weapons-grade plutonium during the weapons program. An option for getting rid of this plutonium is to use it as a fuel in a traditional Light Water Reactor (LWR). Several fuel types with differing plutonium destruction efficiencies are under study.
Transmutation was banned in the US in April 1977 by President Carter due to the danger of plutonium proliferation,[83] but President Reagan rescinded the ban in 1981.[84] Due to the economic losses and risks, construction of reprocessing plants during this time did not resume. Due to high energy demand, work on the method has continued in the EU. This has resulted in a practical nuclear research reactor called Myrrha in which transmutation is possible. Additionally, a new research program called ACTINET has been started in the EU to make transmutation possible on a large, industrial scale. According to President Bush's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) of 2007, the US is now actively promoting research on transmutation technologies needed to markedly reduce the problem of nuclear waste treatment.[85]
There have also been theoretical studies involving the use of fusion reactors as so called "actinide burners" where a fusion reactor plasma such as in a tokamak, could be "doped" with a small amount of the "minor" transuranic atoms which would be transmuted (meaning fissioned in the actinide case) to lighter elements upon their successive bombardment by the very high energy neutrons produced by the fusion of deuterium and tritium in the reactor. A study at MIT found that only 2 or 3 fusion reactors with parameters similar to that of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) could transmute the entire annual minor actinide production from all of the light water reactors presently operating in the United States fleet while simultaneously generating approximately 1 gigawatt of power from each reactor.[86]
Re-use of waste[edit]
Another option is to find applications for the isotopes in nuclear waste so as to re-use them.[87] Already, caesium-137, strontium-90 and a few other isotopes are extracted for certain industrial applications such as food irradiation and radioisotope thermoelectric generators. While re-use does not eliminate the need to manage radioisotopes, it can reduce the quantity of waste produced.
The Nuclear Assisted Hydrocarbon Production Method,[88] Canadian patent application 2,659,302, is a method for the temporary or permanent storage of nuclear waste materials comprising the placing of waste materials into one or more repositories or boreholes constructed into an unconventional oil formation. The thermal flux of the waste materials fracture the formation and alters the chemical and/or physical properties of hydrocarbon material within the subterranean formation to allow removal of the altered material. A mixture of hydrocarbons, hydrogen, and/or other formation fluids is produced from the formation. The radioactivity of high-level radioactive waste affords proliferation resistance to plutonium placed in the periphery of the repository or the deepest portion of a borehole.
Breeder reactors can run on U-238 and transuranic elements, which comprise the majority of spent fuel radioactivity in the 1,000–100,000-year time span.
Space disposal[edit]
Space disposal is attractive because it removes nuclear waste from the planet. It has significant disadvantages, such as the potential for catastrophic failure of a launch vehicle, which could spread radioactive material into the atmosphere and around the world. A high number of launches would be required because no individual rocket would be able to carry very much of the material relative to the total amount that needs to be disposed of. This makes the proposal impractical economically and it increases the risk of at least one or more launch failures.[89] To further complicate matters, international agreements on the regulation of such a program would need to be established.[90] Costs and inadequate reliability of modern rocket launch systems for space disposal has been one of the motives for interest in non-rocket space launch systems such as mass drivers, space elevators, and other proposals[citation needed].
National management plans[edit]
Most countries are considerably ahead of the United States in developing plans for high-level radioactive waste disposal. Sweden and Finland are furthest along in committing to a particular disposal technology, while many others reprocess spent fuel or contract with France or Great Britain to do it, taking back the resulting plutonium and high-level waste. "An increasing backlog of plutonium from reprocessing is developing in many countries... It is doubtful that reprocessing makes economic sense in the present environment of cheap uranium."[91]
In many European countries (e.g., Britain, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland) the risk or dose limit for a member of the public exposed to radiation from a future high-level nuclear waste facility is considerably more stringent than that suggested by the International Commission on Radiation Protection or proposed in the United States. European limits are often more stringent than the standard suggested in 1990 by the International Commission on Radiation Protection by a factor of 20, and more stringent by a factor of ten than the standard proposed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository for the first 10,000 years after closure.[92]
The U.S. EPA's proposed standard for greater than 10,000 years is 250 times more permissive than the European limit.[92] The U.S. EPA proposed a legal limit of a maximum of 3.5 millisieverts (350 millirem) each annually to local individuals after 10,000 years, which would be up to several percent of[vague] the exposure currently received by some populations in the highest natural background regions on Earth, though the U.S. DOE predicted that received dose would be much below that limit.[93] Over a timeframe of thousands of years, after the most active short half-life radioisotopes decayed, burying U.S. nuclear waste would increase the radioactivity in the top 2000 feet of rock and soil in the United States (10 million km2) by ≈ 1 part in 10 million over the cumulative amount of natural radioisotopes in such a volume, but the vicinity of the site would have a far higher concentration of artificial radioisotopes underground than such an average.[94]
After serious opposition had arisen[where?] about plans and negotiations between Mongolia with Japan and the United States of America to build nuclear-waste facilities in Mongolia, Mongolia stopped all negotiations in September 2011. These negotiations had started after U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel B. Poneman visited Mongolia in September, 2010. Talks took place in Washington DC between officials of Japan, the United States and Mongolia in February 2011. After this the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which wanted to buy nuclear fuel from Mongolia, joined in the negotiations. The talks were kept secret, and although The Mainichi Daily News reported on them in May, Mongolia officially denied the existence of these negotiations. However, alarmed by this news, Mongolian citizens protested against the plans, and demanded the government withdraw the plans and disclose information. The Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj issued a presidential order on September 13 banning all negotiations with foreign governments or international organizations on nuclear-waste storage plans in Mongolia.[95] The Mongolian government has accused the newspaper of distributing false claims around the world. After the presidential order, the Mongolian president fired the individual who was supposedly involved in these conversations.
Illegal dumping[edit]
Authorities in Italy are investigating a 'Ndrangheta mafia clan accused of trafficking and illegally dumping nuclear waste. According to a whistleblower, a manager of the Italy's state energy research agency Enea paid the clan to get rid of 600 drums of toxic and radioactive waste from Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, and the US, with Somalia as the destination, where the waste was buried after buying off local politicians. Former employees of Enea are suspected of paying the criminals to take waste off their hands in the 1980s and 1990s. Shipments to Somalia continued into the 1990s, while the 'Ndrangheta clan also blew up shiploads of waste, including radioactive hospital waste, sending them to the sea bed off the Calabrian coast.[96] According to the environmental group Legambiente, former members of the 'Ndrangheta have said that they were paid to sink ships with radioactive material for the last 20 years.[97]
Accidents involving radioactive waste[edit]
A few incidents have occurred when radioactive material was disposed of improperly, shielding during transport was defective, or when it was simply abandoned or even stolen from a waste store.[98] In the Soviet Union, waste stored in Lake Karachay was blown over the area during a dust storm after the lake had partly dried out.[99] At Maxey Flat, a low-level radioactive waste facility located in Kentucky, containment trenches covered with dirt, instead of steel or cement, collapsed under heavy rainfall into the trenches and filled with water. The water that invaded the trenches became radioactive and had to be disposed of at the Maxey Flat facility itself. In other cases of radioactive waste accidents, lakes or ponds with radioactive waste accidentally overflowed into the rivers during exceptional storms.[citation needed] In Italy, several radioactive waste deposits let material flow into river water, thus contaminating water for domestic use.[100] In France, in the summer of 2008 numerous incidents happened;[101] in one, at the Areva plant in Tricastin, it was reported that during a draining operation, liquid containing untreated uranium overflowed out of a faulty tank and about 75 kg of the radioactive material seeped into the ground and, from there, into two rivers nearby;[102] in another case, over 100 staff were contaminated with low doses of radiation.[103]
Scavenging of abandoned radioactive material has been the cause of several other cases of radiation exposure, mostly in developing nations, which may have less regulation of dangerous substances (and sometimes less general education about radioactivity and its hazards) and a market for scavenged goods and scrap metal. The scavengers and those who buy the material are almost always unaware that the material is radioactive and it is selected for its aesthetics or scrap value.[104] Irresponsibility on the part of the radioactive material's owners, usually a hospital, university or military, and the absence of regulation concerning radioactive waste, or a lack of enforcement of such regulations, have been significant factors in radiation exposures. For an example of an accident involving radioactive scrap originating from a hospital see the Goiânia accident.[104]
Transportation accidents involving spent nuclear fuel from power plants are unlikely to have serious consequences due to the strength of the spent nuclear fuel shipping casks.[105]
On 15 December 2011 top government spokesman Osamu Fujimura of the Japanese government admitted that nuclear substances were found in the waste of Japanese nuclear facilities. Although Japan did commit itself in 1977 to these inspections in the safeguard agreement with the IAEA, the reports were kept secret for the inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency.[citation needed] Japan did start discussions with the IAEA about the large quantities of enriched uranium and plutonium that were discovered in nuclear waste cleared away by Japanese nuclear operators.[citation needed] At the press conference Fujimura said: "Based on investigations so far, most nuclear substances have been properly managed as waste, and from that perspective, there is no problem in safety management," But according to him, the matter was at that moment still being investigated.[106]
Associated hazard warning signs[edit]
2007 ISO radioactivity danger symbol intended for IAEA Category 1, 2 and 3 sources defined as dangerous sources capable of death or serious injury.[107]
See also[edit]
- Depleted uranium
- Ducrete
- Environmental remediation
- Environmental racism
- Geomelting
- Hot cell
- Human Interference Task Force
- Into Eternity (film)
- Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents
- Mixed waste (radioactive/hazardous)
- Microbial corrosion
- Nuclear decommissioning
- Personal protective equipment
- Radiation protection
- Radioactive contamination
- Radioactive scrap metal
- Radioecology
- Taylor Wilson's nuclear waste-fired small reactor
- Toxic waste
- Waste management
- ^ "The Joint Convention". IAEA.
- ^ Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Radioactive Waste Project. Retrieved September 2007.
- ^ "What about Iodine-129 – Half-Life is 15 Million Years". Berkeley Radiological Air and Water Monitoring Forum. University of California. 28 March 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
- ^ Attix, Frank (1986). Introduction to Radiological Physics and Radiation Dosimetry. New York: Wiley-VCH. pp. 2–15,468,474. ISBN 978-0-471-01146-0.
- ^ Anderson, Mary; Woessner, William (1992). Applied Groundwater Modeling. San Diego, CA: Academic Press Inc. pp. 325–327. ISBN 0-12-059485-4.
- ^ Plus radium (element 88). While actually a sub-actinide, it immediately precedes actinium (89) and follows a three-element gap of instability after polonium (84) where no isotopes have half-lives of at least four years (the longest-lived isotope in the gap is radon-222 with a half life of less than four days). Radium's longest lived isotope, at 1,600 years, thus merits the element's inclusion here.
- ^ Specifically from thermal neutron fission of U-235, e.g. in a typical nuclear reactor.
- ^ Milsted, J.; Friedman, A. M.; Stevens, C. M. (1965). "The alpha half-life of berkelium-247; a new long-lived isomer of berkelium-248". Nuclear Physics. 71 (2): 299. doi:10.1016/0029-5582(65)90719-4.
"The isotopic analyses disclosed a species of mass 248 in constant abundance in three samples analysed over a period of about 10 months. This was ascribed to an isomer of Bk248 with a half-life greater than 9 y. No growth of Cf248 was detected, and a lower limit for the β− half-life can be set at about 104 y. No alpha activity attributable to the new isomer has been detected; the alpha half-life is probably greater than 300 y." - ^ This is the heaviest isotope with a half-life of at least four years before the "Sea of Instability".
- ^ Excluding those "classically stable" isotopes with half-lives significantly in excess of 232Th; e.g., while 113mCd has a half-life of only fourteen years, that of 113Cd is nearly eight quadrillion years.
- ^ "The 2007 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection". Annals of the ICRP. ICRP publication 103. 37 (2–4). 2007. ISBN 978-0-7020-3048-2.
- ^ Gofman, John W. Radiation and human health. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1981, 787.
- ^ Sancar, A. et al Molecular mechanisms of mammalian DNA repair and the DNA damage checkpoints. Washington D.C.: NIH PubMed.gov, 2004.
- ^ Cochran, Robert (1999). The Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Analysis and Management. La Grange Park, IL: American Nuclear Society. pp. 52–57. ISBN 0-89448-451-6.
- ^ "Global Defence News and Defence Headlines – IHS Jane's 360".
- ^ Hashem, Heba. "Recycling spent nuclear fuel: the ultimate solution for the US?". nuclearenergyinsider.com. Nuclear Energy Insider. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
- ^ "Continuous Plutonium Recycling In India: Improvements in Reprocessing Technology".
- ^ World Nuclear Association (March 2009). "Plutonium". Retrieved 2010-03-18.
- ^ Lyman, Edwin S. (December 1994). "A Perspective on the Proliferation Risks of Plutonium Mines". Nuclear Control Institute. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
- ^ a b c d e f U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Management – "Department of Energy Five Year Plan FY 2007-FY 2011 Volume II." Retrieved 8 April 2007.
- ^ American Scientist Jan/Feb 2007
- ^ "Nuclear Logging". Retrieved 2009-07-07.
- ^ a b c d Gabbard, Alex (1993). "Coal Combustion". ORNL Review. 26 (3–4). Archived from the original on February 5, 2007.
- ^ "TENORM Sources | Radiation Protection | US EPA". Epa.gov. 2006-06-28. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
- ^ Idaho State University. Radioactivity in Nature
- ^ a b United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. Sources and Effects of Ionizing Radiation, UNSCEAR 2008
- ^ "Regulation of TENORM". Tenorm.com. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
- ^ Cosmic origins of Uranium. uic.com.au (November 2006)
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey, Radioactive Elements in Coal and Fly Ash: Abundance, Forms, and Environmental Significance, Fact Sheet FS-163-1997, October 1997. Retrieved September 2007.
- ^ Survey & Identification of NORM Contaminated Equipment. enprotec-inc.com.
- ^ Classification of Radioactive Waste. IAEA, Vienna (1994)
- ^ Janicki, Mark (26 November 2013). "Iron boxes for ILW transport and storage". Nuclear Engineering International. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
- ^ Rogner, H. (2010). "NUCLEAR POWER AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT". Journal of International Affairs. 64: 149.
- ^ "Myths and Realities of Radioactive Waste". February 2016.
- ^ "Radioactive Waste Management". World Nuclear Association. July 2015. Retrieved 2015-08-25.
- ^ Geere, Duncan. (2010-09-20) Where do you put 250,000 tonnes of nuclear waste? (Wired UK). Wired.co.uk. Retrieved on 2015-12-15.
- ^ Humber, Yuriy (2015-07-10). "Japan's 17,000 Tons of Nuclear Waste in Search of a Home". Bloomberg.
- ^ a b Findlay, Trevor (2010). "Nuclear Energy to 2030 and its Implications for Safety, Security and Nonproliferation: Overview" (PDF). Nuclear energy futures project.
- ^ "Radioactive Waste Management | Nuclear Waste Disposal". World Nuclear Association. July 2015. Retrieved 2015-08-25.
- ^ Biello, David (Jul 29, 2011). "Presidential Commission Seeks Volunteers to Store U.S. Nuclear Waste". Scientific American.
- ^ Why Wipp?. wipp.energy.gov
- ^ "Progress on approaches to management of separated plutonium". Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. 2014-01-20.
- ^ Vandenbosch, p. 21.
- ^ Ojovan, M. I. and Lee, W.E. (2014) An Introduction to Nuclear Waste Immobilisation, Elsevier, Amsterdam, ISBN 9780080993928
- ^ See, for example, Paul Brown, 'Shoot it at the sun. Send it to Earth's core. What to do with nuclear waste?', The Guardian, 14 April 2004.
- ^ World Nuclear Association "Storage and Disposal Options" retrieved 2011-11-14
- ^ "Ministers admit nuclear waste was dumped in sea". The Independent. London. 1997-07-01.
- ^ a b Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future: Executive Summary, January 2012.
- ^ Ojovan, M. I. and Lee, W.E. (2005) An Introduction to Nuclear Waste Immobilisation, Elsevier, Amsterdam, p. 315
- ^ a b National Research Council (1996). Nuclear Wastes: Technologies for Separation and Transmutation. Washington DC: National Academy Press.
- ^ "Laboratory-scale vitrification and leaching of Hanford high-level waste for the purpose of simulant and glass property models validation". Retrieved 2009-07-07.
- ^ Ojovan, M.I.; et al. (2006). "Corrosion of nuclear waste glasses in non-saturated conditions: Time-Temperature behaviour" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-06-30.
- ^ OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (1994). The Economics of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle. Paris: OECD Nuclear Energy Agency.
- ^ Ojovan, Michael I.; Lee, William E. (2010). "Glassy Wasteforms for Nuclear Waste Immobilization". Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A. 42 (4): 837. Bibcode:2011MMTA...42..837O. doi:10.1007/s11661-010-0525-7.
- ^ "Waste Form Release Calculations for the 2005 Integrated Disposal Facility Performance Assessment" (PDF). PNNL-15198. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. July 2005. Retrieved 2006-11-08.
- ^ Hensing, I. & Schultz, W. (1995). Economic Comparison of Nuclear Fuel Cycle Options. Cologne: Energiewirtschaftlichen Instituts.
- ^ Brünglinghaus, Marion. "Waste processing". Euronuclear.org. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
- ^ Wilmarth, W.R. et al. (2004) Removal of Silicon from High Level Waste Streams via Ferric Flocculation. srs.gov.
- ^ World Nuclear Association, Synroc, Nuclear Issues Briefing Paper 21. Retrieved January 2009.
- ^ National Research Council (1995). Technical Bases for Yucca Mountain Standards. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. cited in "The Status of Nuclear Waste Disposal". The American Physical Society. January 2006. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
- ^ "Public Health and Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for Yucca Mountain, Nevada; Proposed Rule" (PDF). Environmental Protection Agency. 2005-08-22. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
- ^ Peterson, Per; William Kastenberg; Michael Corradini. "Nuclear Waste and the Distant Future". Issues in Science and Technology. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences (Summer 2006).
- ^ "Issues relating to safety standards on the geological disposal of radioactive waste" (PDF). International Atomic Energy Agency. 2001-06-22. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
- ^ "IAEA Waste Management Database: Report 3 – L/ILW-LL" (PDF). International Atomic Energy Agency. 2000-03-28. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
- ^ "Decommissioning costs of WWER-440 nuclear power plants" (PDF). International Atomic Energy Agency. November 2002. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
- ^ International Atomic Energy Agency, Spent Fuel and High Level Waste: Chemical Durability and Performance under Simulated Repository Conditions, IAEA-TECDOC-1563, October 2007.
- ^ "Fact Sheet on Dry Cask Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel". NRC. May 7, 2009. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
- ^ Cameron L. Tracy, Megan K. Dustin & Rodney C. Ewing, Policy: Reassess New Mexico's nuclear-waste repository, Nature, 13 January 2016.
- ^ Vandenbosch, p. 10.
- ^ Yates, Marshall (July 6, 1989). "DOE waste management criticized: On-site storage urged". Public Utilities Fortnightly. 124: 33.
- ^ Hoare, J.P. (1968) Electrochemistry of Oxygen, Interscience Publishers
- ^ Hafemeister, David W. (2007). Physics of societal issues: calculations on national security, environment, and energy. Berlin: Springer. p. 187. ISBN 0387689095.
- ^ Shipman, J.T.; Wison J.D.; Todd A. (2007). An Introduction to Physical Science (10 ed.). Cengage Learning. p. 279. ISBN 978-0-618-93596-3.
- ^ "Dumping and Loss overview". Oceans in the Nuclear Age. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
- ^ Utah Nuclear Waste Summary, by Tricia Jack, Jordan Robertson, Center for Public Policy & Administration, University of Utah
- ^ Rao, K. R. (25 December 2001). "Radioactive waste: The problem and its management" (PDF). Current Science. 81 (12).
- ^ Remix & Return: A Complete Low-Level Nuclear Waste Solution. scientiapress.com
- ^ Sevior M. (2006). "Considerations for nuclear power in Australia". International Journal of Environmental Studies. 63 (6): 859–872. doi:10.1080/00207230601047255.
- ^ Thorium Resources In Rare Earth Elements. uiuc.edu
- ^ American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2007, abstract #V33A-1161. Mass and Composition of the Continental Crust
- ^ Wainwright, Martin (30 January 2013). "Cumbria rejects underground nuclear storage dump". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
- ^ Macalister, Terry (31 January 2013). "Cumbria sticks it to the nuclear dump lobby – despite all the carrots on offer". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
- ^ Review of the SONIC Proposal to Dump High-Level Nuclear Waste at Piketon. Southern Ohio Neighbors Group
- ^ National Policy Analysis #396: The Separations Technology and Transmutation Systems (STATS) Report: Implications for Nuclear Power Growth and Energy Sufficiency – February 2002. Nationalcenter.org. Retrieved on 2015-12-15.
- ^ Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Statement of Principles. gnep.energy.gov (2007-09-16)
- ^ Freidberg, Jeffrey P. "Department of Nuclear Engineering: Reports to the President 2000–2001". Web.mit.edu. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
- ^ Milton R. (January 17, 1978) Nuclear By-Products : A Resource for the Future. heritage.org
- ^ "酵素でプチ断食|成功させる秘訣は代替ドリンクにあった!". Nuclearhydrocarbons.com. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
- ^ National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Disposition of High-Level Radioactive Waste Through Geological Isolation (2001). Disposition of high-level waste and spent nuclear fuel: the continuing societal and technical challenges. National Academies Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-309-07317-2.
- ^ "Managing nuclear waste: Options considered". DOE Factsheets. Department of Energy: Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, Yucca Mountain Project. November 2003. Archived from the original on 2009-05-15.
- ^ Vandenbosch, p. 247.
- ^ a b Vandenbosch, p. 248
- ^ U.S. Federal Register. 40 CFR Part 197. Environmental Protection Agency. Public Health and Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for Yucca Mountain, Nevada; Final Rule
- ^ Cohen, Bernard L. (1998). "Perspectives on the High Level Waste Disposal Problem". Interdisciplinary Science Reviews. 23: 193–203.
- ^ The Mainichi Daily News (15 October 2011)Mongolia abandons nuclear waste storage plans, and informs Japan of decision
- ^ From cocaine to plutonium: mafia clan accused of trafficking nuclear waste, The Guardian, October 9, 2007
- ^ Mafia sank boat with radioactive waste: official, AFP, September 14, 2009
- ^ Strengthening the safety of radiation sources & the security of radioactive materials: timely action, by Abel J. González, IAEA Bulletin, 41/3/1999
- ^ GlobalSecurity.org, Chelyabinsk-65/Ozersk. Retrieved September 2007.
- ^ Report RAI.it, L'Eredità (in Italian), 2 November 2008
- ^ Reuters UK, New incident at French nuclear plant. Retrieved March 2009.
- ^ "'It feels like a sci-fi film' – accidents tarnish nuclear dream". The Guardian. London. 25 July 2008.
- ^ Reuters UK, Too many French nuclear workers contaminated. Retrieved March 2009.
- ^ a b International Atomic Energy Agency, The radiological accident in Goiânia, 1988. Retrieved September 2007.
- ^ "Nuclear Flask Train Crash Test – BBC News 1984". YouTube. 1984-07-17. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
- ^ The Mainichi Daily News (December 15, 2011) Gov't admits nuclear substances found in waste, unreported to IAEA
- ^ "New Symbol Launched to Warn Public About Radiation Dangers". International Atomic Energy Agency. 2007.
Cited sources[edit]
- Vandenbosch, Robert & Vandenbosch, Susanne E. (2007). Nuclear waste stalemate. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. ISBN 0874809037.
External links[edit]
- Alsos Digital Library – Radioactive Waste (annotated bibliography)
- Euridice European Interest Group in charge of Hades URL operation (link)
- Ondraf/Niras, the waste management authority in Belgium (link)
- Critical Hour: Three Mile Island, The Nuclear Legacy, And National Security (PDF)
- Environmental Protection Agency – Yucca Mountain (documents)
- Grist.org – How to tell future generations about nuclear waste (article)
- International Atomic Energy Agency – Internet Directory of Nuclear Resources (links)
- Nuclear Files.org – Yucca Mountain (documents)
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission – Radioactive Waste (documents)
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission – Spent Fuel Heat Generation Calculation (guide)
- Radwaste Solutions (magazine)
- UNEP Earthwatch – Radioactive Waste (documents and links)
- World Nuclear Association – Radioactive Waste (briefing papers)
- Worries can't be buried as nuclear waste piles up, Los Angeles Times, January 21, 2008
- RadWaste.org
- Radioactivity.eu.com