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Mixed waste issues
"Mixed wastes" can be defined as radioactive wastes which also contain
a "conventional" hazard, such as chemical toxicity. An example would
be radioactive lead. If it wasn't radioactive, the lead would still be
considered to be an evironmental hazard in most countries.
In some countries, notably the United States, the radioactive properties
are regulated by one set of rules under the NRC, while the conventional hazard is regulated
by another set of rules under the jurisdiction of another government agency (the EPA).
This dual regulation greatly increases the complexity of mixed waste
management, especially if the regulations impose conflicting requirements.
In other countries, the radioactive hazard takes precidence over the
non-radioactive hazard, and the waste is regulated by a single
government body.
The links on this page deal with a variety of mixed waste issues. Note: Links identified with are in Adobe
Acrobat PDF format. You may need a
special plugin
to access these pages. Some web sites may not be in English. See index here for language codes, such as JP / EN .