Updating radwaste processing, storage

A brief survey of past and present systems for radioactive waste treatment and storage is presented. Today's systems have improved capability for handling the low-level wastes generated at nuclear stations. Stressing reliability and safety, they feature volume reduction to minimize overall disposal cost for liquid and solid waste. It is concluded that because of the high cost of radwaste processing and disposal, maximum effort must be made to reduce the waste volumes generated. This will probably require installation of some type of volume reduction equipment at most nuclear stations. If the trend toward eliminating shallow land burial of waste continues, the possibility of long-term on-site storage must be taken into account.