Toxic and Radioactive Waste Management

Various satisfactory methods for the disposal of different types of wastes-liquid and solid, toxic and nontoxic-are described, including incineration and land burial. The main principles for the design and safe operation of land-based burial sites to prevent pollution are stated. For radioactive wastes, sea dumping is no longer acceptable in European countries, and the principles for the design of low- and intermediate-level wastes accepted in Europe are also given. For high-level wastes, vitrification is proceeding in the United Kingdom and France. Data on the quantities of wastes produced in Great Britain and a brief history of the legal controls on waste disposal are supplied. It is concluded that civil engineers may be increasingly confident that a variety of safe and satisfactory disposal routes for all forms of toxic and radioactive wastes are available.