Storage and Disposal of Radioactive Materials

The material which has unstable atoms and emission of ionizing radiations during decaying is called as radioactive material. Nowadays these radioactive materials have many applications in various fields such as healthcare, agriculture, archaeology, space exploration, geology, research, diagnostic radiology, radiation medicine, radiopharmaceutical etc. As the applications of radioactive material increases, the formation of nuclear waste also gets increased. The effluents from the industry which uses radioactive materials as tracers to monitor fluid flow, filtration, leakages, purification etc. are released in trace amounts into the environment even after the effluent treatment. The byproducts of radioactive materials are also contributed in contamination from nuclear reactors, fuel processing plants, hospitals and research facilities. This has a great impact on the effects of nuclear waste on environment and health which may co-relate with each other. Some of the life-threatening effects are contamination of agricultural land, fishing waters, freshwater sources with nuclear waste, climatic changes due to radiation etc. which in turn leads to various health issues. There are many methods for the storage and disposal of radioactive materials i.e., deep surface repositories, recycling, solidification, bioremediation, encapsulation etc. that are in practice. Many researches and ideas are breaking out to carry out these work and actions efficiently and safely. In this paper we are going to explore recent methods used to store and dispose the radioactive materials.