Appendix 4 - IAEA categories of radioactive waste [68]
Waste Type
|
Definition
|
Low level waste
|
Contains enough radioactive material to require action for
the protection of people, but not so much that it requires shielding during
handling, storage or transportation.
|
Intermediate level waste, short-lived
|
Waste which requires shielding, but needs little or no
provision for heat dissipation and contains low concentrations of long-lived radionuclides (less than 4000 Becquerel/gram of alpha-emitters). The radionuclides
generally have a half-life of less than thirty years
|
Intermediate level waste, long-lived
|
Waste that requires shielding, but needs little or no
provision for heat dissipation. The radionuclides generally have a half life
of more than thirty years.
|
High level waste
|
Waste which contains large concentrations of both short-
and long-lived radionuclides and is sufficiently radioactive to require both
shielding and cooling. The waste generates more than 2 kilowatts of heat per cubic metre.
|
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