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Waste Management

Any human endeavor produces waste, whether you cook a meal, drive a car, or wash your clothes.  Any form of energy production creates waste too, whether we use coal, solar, wind, gas or nuclear energy.  Waste is simply part of living, and the only way to deal with it, is to find solutions for the challenge.

In the nuclear science and technology industry, waste comes from different activities.  It arises from the use of radioisotopes in medicine, in research, and in agriculture; it arises as a byproduct of the generation of electricity through nuclear fuels, from the use of sources in manufacturing processes and more.


Making electricity in a nuclear power plant produces a small amount of high-level radioactive wastes. A lifetime supply of electricity for one person produces only a soda can size amount of such nuclear wastes.

Contrary to what some antinuclear activists would like you to believe, the nuclear industry has found a solution for its waste challenges. Radioactive wastes must be managed and disposed of properly. Federal agencies and some states control the risks that come with radioactive waste by setting limits and regulations that disposal facilities must follow. EPA is responsible for setting environmental standards that are used by other federal and state agencies in regulations for the disposal of radioactive waste.

Types of Radioactive Wastetypes_waste

In the U.S., radioactive waste is divided into three main types, classified according to their activity, their heat generation potential, and what they physically contain.  These three main levels are low level waste (LLW), transuranic waste (TRU), and high level waste (HLW).  For each of these types of waste, there is a specific disposal solution — above ground storage or shallow burial for low level waste and deep repository storage for transuranic and high level wastes.

In most other countries, nuclear waste is categorized as low level waste, intermediate level waste, and high level waste.  The reason for this different classification system is that in the U.S. waste is classified based on where it comes from; in most other countries, waste is classified according to what the effects of the waste might be.  In both classifications, low level waste represents about 90% of all radioactive waste.

Low level waste (LLW)
Transuranic waste (TRU)
High level waste (HLW)

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