Lok Sabha Question No. 1503 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-19
Subject: Nuclear Waste Management System
Ministry: ATOMIC ENERGY
Asked by: RITI PATHAK, JUGAL KISHORE SHARMA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1503

TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.12.2018

## NUCLEAR WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

1503.   SHRIMATI RITI PATHAK: SHRI JUGAL KISHORE:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has any transparent or comprehensive nuclear waste management system;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (d) the  new steps taken by the Government to set up a balanced and transparent nuclear waste management system?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES & PENSIONS AND PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (Dr. JITENDRA SINGH) :

- (a) Yes, Sir.
- (b) Safe management of nuclear waste has been accorded high priority right from the  inception  of  our  nuclear  energy  programme.  A  comprehensive  radioactive waste  management  system  is  established  taking  into  account  the  operational capability for the management  of  radioactive  waste  and an independent regulatory capability for its overview.

As a waste management philosophy, no waste in any physical form is released / disposed  of  to  the  environment  unless  the  same  is  cleared,  exempted  or excluded from regulations.  Nuclear waste in the form of gaseous, liquid and solid is generated during operation & maintenance activities of nuclear power plants. A brief  summary  of  the  process  being  adopted  for  management  of  the  nuclear wastes arising from nuclear power plant is given below.

1. Gaseous  waste  is  treated  at  the  source  of  generation.  The  techniques used are adsorption on activated charcoal and filtration by high efficiency particulate air filter.

2. Liquid waste streams are treated by various techniques, such as filtration, adsorption, chemical treatment, evaporation, ion exchange; reverse osmosis etc. depending upon the nature, volume & radioactivity content.
3. The radioactive solid wastes generated during operation and maintenance of  nuclear  power  plants  are  segregated  and  volume  reduced  prior  to  its disposal. Disposal of waste is carried out in specially constructed structures such as stonelined trenches, reinforced concrete trenches and tile  holes.  These  disposal  structures  are  located  both  above  and  underground  in  access-controlled  areas  and  are  designed  based  on  multibarrier principle for ensuring effective containment of the radioactivity. The areas where the disposal structures are located are kept under constant surveillance  with  the  help  of  bore-wells laid  out  in  a  planned  manner  by routinely  monitoring  the  underground  soil  and  water  samples  to  confirm effective confinement of radioactivity present in the disposed waste.
4. High level radioactive waste generated during reprocessing of spent fuel is converted  into  glass  through  a  process,  called  vitrification.  The  vitrified waste  is  stored  for  an  interim  period  in  a  Solid  Storage  Surveillance Facility  prior  to  its  eventual  disposal  in  geological  disposal  facility.  This policy  is  at  par  with  international  practices  following  the  guidelines  of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
5. The treated liquids and gases are diluted and discharged under monitoring, ensuring that the discharges are well within the limits set by Atomic  Energy  Regulatory  Board  (AERB).  The  discharges  are  also monitored  by  the  AERB  and  their  details  are  published  in  the  Annual Report of AERB which are in the public domain.
5. (c) Not applicable in view of (b) above.
6. (d) With the advent of new technologies based on partitioning of waste, where long lived radioactive waste constituents are separated prior to immobilizing them in the glass matrices, the need of deep underground geological disposal facility will reduce to a great extent in near future. The long lived radio isotopes are planned to  be  burnt  in  fast  reactors  or  Accelerator  Driven Sub  Critical  systems to  get  it converted  into  short-  lived  species.  Main  fission  products  like  Cs-137  &  Sr-90 present in the waste are recovered using in house developed technologies and deployed  for  societal  applications  covering  medical  applications  and  external irradiators.    This  is  accomplished  first  time  in  the  world  by  India,  where radioactive waste is regarded as a useful by-product.

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