Safe Waste Management Research Articles

Safe management of hazardous waste

The size and the health significance of the hazardous waste problem are reviewed. Proper engineering and management practice are discussed, including the elimination, if possible, reduction, changing processes and product lines, treatment and reuuse, and disposal by landfill and incineration. Exports should be drasti cally reduced, also using complex administrative measures. International organizations concerned should encourage good national and international management practices. A siting for collection, treatment and disposal, remote from human habitation, and established under an international agreement, would release countries from managing a difficult problem within their own national borders.

A Comparative Study of Europium, Thorium and Uranium Binding to an Aquatic Fulvic Acid

ABSTRACTAdvances in safe management and disposal of radioactive waste have shown that a comprehensive program requires the incorporation of dissolved organics into radwaste and transport effluent models, with respect to their binding of radionuclides. The binding of Eu3+, Th4+and UO22+to a well-characterized aquatic fulvic acid has been studied using an ultrafiltration method at a bulk electrolyte concentration of 0.10 M NaClO4, trace amounts of radionuclides and fulvic acid concentrations of 60 and 120 mg/l. The results expressed as the overall complex formation function, βov, versus pH show the following order: Th4+> Eu3+> UO22+. The estimated βov, values have been discussed by considering the aqueous chemistry of Eu3+, Th4+and UO22+vis-à-vis the solution chemistry of the fulvic acid sample.

Basis criteria and current procedures for routine management of tritiated wastes at the JRC-Ispra

The European Tritium Handling Experimental Laboratory (ETHEL) is the new tritium facility of the Commission of the European Communities aimed at handling multigram amounts of tritium for safety-related R&D purposes. The laboratory, located at the Joint Research Centre, Ispra site (Italy), is foreseen to start radioactive operation in 1992. The paper describes the operational criteria and conditioning procedures whose application is inteded for implementing the safe management of tritiated wastes expected from ETHEL.

Ground water contamination by anthropogenic organic compounds from waste disposal sites: Transformations and behaviour

Abstract Recent years have witnessed a dramatic rise in production and use of synthetic organic chemicals. It becomes apparent that modern society must either dispose of the enormous quantities of residual products (wastes) that it generates or in some way minimizes or reprocesses those residuals. However, in North America, as in most areas of the world, the safe disposal and management of chemical wastes are becoming increasingly important as occurrrences of ground water contamination are reported. After the disposal of chemical wastes in the ground, the potential for its constituent(s) to leach from a disposal site, to reach the ground water, to persist or to be attenuated, rests upon its inherent physico‐chemical properties, and its resistance to removal by complex interactive physical, chemical and biological reactions in the surrounding soil‐ground water media. Effective strategies for action levels, contingencies plans and health hazards associated with ground water contamination in relation to wast...

The location of waste transfer stations in Ashdod, Israel, using a multi-criteria decision support system

The search for appropriate methods for the safe and acceptable management of waste is a pressing problem facing many governments. This paper focusses on the use of a computer-based decision support system (DSS) called the Decision Analysis System (DAS) for tackling the specific problem of identifying sites for waste transfer stations. After a general discussion on DSS the details of DAS are explained, noting that it is based, first, on a set of four multi-criteria classification techniques and, second, on the analysis of preference and opinions of decision-makers and analysts. To illustrate the use of DAS an application to an empirical set of data for the town of Ashdod in Israel is used. The specific location problem is to select two sites from a set of eight feasible ones using information on a set of 17 criteria which embrace ecological, political, transportation, economic and spatial impacts. The results from the DAS analysis are compared with those produced by a simple weighted arithmetic procedure. This paper also includes recommendations for sensitivity analysis and the analysis of preferences of two waste management planners. Finally, the overall utility of DSS for improving the quality of public debate on waste management problems is assessed.

North American Waste Exchanges: A Marketing Alternative for Hazardous Waste

ABSTRACT The problems associated with the economical and safe management of industrial wastes have grown increasingly complex and dynamic during the last few decades. Practical solutions to waste management problems by industry typically require a multifaceted approach for most waste streams, particularly those containing hazardous wastes. Waste transfer or exchange between firms, as an alternative to other management methods such as land disposal or incineration, is becoming economically more attractive for many firms. In addition, the recent trend in regulations is toward encouraging recycling and waste reuse. The costs of properly managing hazardous wastes via treatment or disposal are relatively expensive. The exchange and reuse of waste materials may result in on-going revenues that can be used to defray operating costs. Waste exchanges, through their broad networks of contacts, help to identify resource reuse opportunities. The historical development of the network of non-profit and for-profit waste...

Swine Lagoon Effluent Applied to ‘Coastal’ Bermudagrass: I. Forage Yield, Quality, and Element Removal

AbstractSwine (Sus scrofa domesticus) production in confinement requires economical and environmentally safe waste management systems. Anaerobic lagoons require periodic removal of effluent for land application to avoid lagoon overflow in humid regions. The objective of this experiment was to determine the utilization potential and the environmental effects of applying swine lagoon effluent to ‘Coastal’ bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.]. Effluent loading rates to apply approximately 335, 670, and 1340 kg of N ha−1 yr−1 were evaluated. The experiment was a randomized complete block with three replications and was conducted for 6 yr on a loamy, siliceous, thermic Arenic Paleudult (two replications) or a fine‐loamy, siliceous thermic Typic Paleudult (one replication). The highest application rate resulted in additions of N, P, and K at about 4, 10, and 8 times, respectively, the normally recommended fertilizer applications for high yields of bermudagrass hay.Effluent loading rates altered dry matter yields with the high and medium rates being similar (15 800 and 14 200 kg ha−1) but greater than the low rate (10 800 kg ha−1). Severe winters injured stands most on the medium and high loading rates and were associated with soil characteristics. Concentrations of P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, and Zn were increased in forage by increased effluent loading rates, while Cl−, Cu, Fe, and Na varied. Effluent loading rates significantly increased in vitro dry matter disappearance 3 of the 6 yr and N concentrations all years, especially from the low to medium loading rates (quadratic effect). High applications of effluent greatly increased the concentration of nitrates in the forage to levels that approached, but did not exceed, concentrations unsafe for ruminants. The medium and high rates resulted in large additions of elements not recovered in the forage and could have environmental implications as to effects on the soil, groundwater, and surface runoff.

Engineering organisms to survive. Introduction.

In this conference on Genetic Control of Environmental Pollutants, we have already heard about needs and strategies related to specific types of environmental toxicants. This session will address the challenge of engineering organisms to survive in marine, anaerobic, and highly unusual environments, both in terms of the organism itself and in terms of what the organism will encounter. We will discuss important aspects of the application of genetic engineering and biotechnology to environmental problems. The objectives of this conference are to consider mechanisms and to assess strategies for more effectively and safely managing wastes and toxic substances in the environment. This automatically involves both degradation and monitoring, since the process of degradation presents the problem of end products and changes in the organisms involved. Clearly, safe management of wastes imposes the need to ascertain that no adverse environmental or health impacts will result from the tools (microorganisms) or the products (metabolites).

Nuclear Waste Management: Some Considerations of Scale

Existing and future radioactive wastes from civil and military nuclear activities must be managed in such a way as to pose no significant threat to the health and safety of occupational personnel and the general public. There is broad agreement within the informed technical community that the technologies required for safe nuclear waste management and disposal can be made available. Past efforts in this area have not been successful in dispelling public concern, however, and there persists a widespread lack of confidence that the fundamental objective of waste management will be met. The future of the civil nuclear power industry in the United States and in several other countries throughout the world rests in significant part on the resolution of the nuclear waste management issue. Two sets of conditions must be realized if future nuclear waste management efforts are to be successful. First, an adequate foundation of scientific understanding and technological capabilities must be created; and second, if these capabilities are to be implemented successfully on an industrial scale, a political and institutional framework must be established which will foster the development of the necessary levels of political consensus, managerial efficiency, and operational reliability. The forthcoming technological and institutional choicesmore » are each importantly influenced by the scale of the waste management system. The present and projected requirements for treatment, transportation, and interim and final storage of the various classes of radioactive wastes are reviewed. Existing arrangements for storage of spent power reactor fuel are in urgent need of attention. Unless additional storage capacity is provided, some operating reactors will be forced to shut down in the near future. The background to the present situation is analyzed, and some recommendations for government and industry action are presented.« less

The nuclear fuel cycle: its role in electricity generation

The supply and processing of nuclear fuels, as well as their reprocessing and the safe management of waste, is big business: Britain is an exporter of this service