Geochemical Aspects of Radioactive Waste Disposal

Book excerpt: There is an extremely voluminous literature on radioactive waste and its disposal, much in the form of government-sponsored research reports. To wade through this mountain of literature is indeed a tedious task, and it is safe to speculate that very few, if any, individuals have the time to examine each report that has been issued during the preceding ten years. This book attempts to summarize much of this literature. Further, many workers in the geosciences have not received training in the nuclear sciences, and many nuclear scientists could be better versed in geology. In this book an attempt is made to cover some background material on radioactive wastes and geotoxicity that may not be an integral part of a geologist's training, and background material on geology and geochemistry for the nuclear scientist. The geochemical material is designed for both the geoscientist and the nuclear scientist. There is no specific level for this book. Certainly, it should be useful to advanced undergraduates and graduates studying geology and nuclear science. It does not pretend to cover a tremendous amount of detail in all subjects, yet the references cited provide the necessary source materials for follow-up study. It is my intention that the reader of this book will have a better, broader understanding of the geochemical aspects of radioactive waste disposal than is otherwise available in anyone source.