Radioactive waste management practices in India

Concern for the environment and establishment of radiation protection goals have been among the major priorities in planning of India's nuclear energy programme. In the Indian nuclear fuel cycle, right from inception. a closed loop option has been adopted where spent fuel is reprocessed to recover plutonium and unused uranium. The emphasis has been to recover actinides, individual fission products and recycle them back to the fuel cycle or use them for various industrial applications. The development of innovative treatment processes for low and intermediate level wastes in recent times has focused on volume reduction as one of the main objectives. In the case of high-level liquid waste, vitrification in borosilicate matrix is being practiced using induction heated metallic melters at industrial scale plants at Tarapur and Trombay. Currently, there are seven operating near surface disposal facilities co-located with power/research reactors in various parts of the country for disposal of low and intermediate level solid wastes. These are routinely subjected to monitoring and safety/performance assessment. An interim storage facility is operational for the storage of vitrified high-level waste overpacks for 30 years or more. Nation wide screening of potential regions and evaluation of rock mass characteristics is in progress for ongoing geological repository programme. Preliminary design and layout of an underground research laboratory/repository has also been initiated. A research programme is underway for long-term evaluation of vitrified waste product under simulated repository conditions. Research is also directed towards development of advanced technologies for waste processing as well as conditioning in vitreous and ceramic matrices. The Department of Atomic Energy with participation of the Indian industry has developed all essential remote-handling gadgets required for operation and maintenance of waste management system and assemblies including decommissioning. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.