Radioactive Waste Assay for Reclassification

Following the ban on deep sea disposal of radioactive wastes in 1983 the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in the United Kingdom (UK) has stored plutonium (Pu) and uranium (U) contaminated wastes on site in 200 l steel drums or as wrapped packages containing filters or other materials. This was because of difficulty in demonstrating compliance with the with the 100 Bq/g Pu alpha activity limit for waste disposal at the national Low Level Waste (LLW) repository at Drigg in Cumbria (UK) and the absence of a national Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) repository. Wastes that were potentially only lightly contaminated were consigned to Drigg as LLW because of difficulties in demonstrating that they could be disposed of as either Very Low Level Waste (VLLW) or Exempt Waste (EW). Table 1 summarises the current situation in the UK regarding disposal route and costs for each waste category. This UK classification system is different from that recommended by the IAEA or that used in the USA.