The NRC wil amend the licenses of the power plants that will burn MOX fuel to allow them to do so. With the oversight of state and federal agencies, industry has learned to handle most wastes in an appropriate manner. The plutonium conversion and mixed-oxide fuel fabrication facilities would be owned by the U.S. Department of Energy and, more than likely, operated by a contractor. Government officials have not decided on the safety and environmental oversight framework, but it will involve the NRC in some way. Types of Waste Facilities that handle plutonium and fabricate nuclear fuel produce several types of waste.
Transuranic waste contains radioactive substances.
Transuranic waste generated by plutonium conversion will include items such as gloves, rags, worn tools, declassified parts, and a small volume of decontamination solution that has been solidified. Low-level waste is produced by nuclear power plants, hospitals, clinics, laboratories, universities and manufacturers. It is created during the testing of new prescription drugs, research, treatment and diagnosis of disease, generation of electricity and other activities. This type of waste consists of ordinary items like protective clothing worn by people who work with radioactive materials, test tubes, vials from hospitals and doctors' offices, radioactive machine parts, non-fuel reactor components, ion exchange resins, and filters used in industrial processes. Tritiated waste is waste contaminated with tritium, a mildly radioactive form of hydrogen.