IEER Publications IEER Incineration of Radioactive and Mixed Waste Words in bold can be found in IEER's on-line glossary. To obtain a hard copy of this factsheet, see the ordering information page.
Incinerators burn waste at high temperatures.
The main purpose of incinerating radioactive waste is to reduce waste volume, since a large proportion consists of bulky items such as contaminated clothes, lumber, and plastic. Health and Environmental Risks Incineration does not destroy metals or reduce radioactivity of wastes. Radioactive waste incinerators, when equipped with well-maintained, high efficiency filters, can capture all but a small fraction of the radioactive isotopes and metals fed into them. The fraction that does escape, however, tends to be in the form of small particles that are more readily absorbed by living organisms than larger particles. PICs can be more toxic per unit weight than the original wastes.