Tank waste remediation system nuclear criticality safety program management review

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

BRADY RAAP, M.C.

1999-06-24

This document provides the results of an internal management review of the Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) criticality safety program, performed in advance of the DOE/RL assessment for closure of the TWRS Nuclear Criticality Safety Issue, March 1994. Resolution of the safety issue was identified as Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (Tri-Party Agreement) Milestone M-40-12, due September 1999.

Determination of Waste Groupings for Safety Analyses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

BARKER, S.A.

2000-04-27

Two workshops were held in May and July 1999 to review data analysis methodologies associated with the analysis of flammable gas behavior. The workshop participants decided that missing data could he estimated by using a distribution of values that encompassed tanks with wastes that behaved in a similar fashion. It was also determined that because of the limited amount of tank data pertaining to flammable gas generation and retention, it was not justified to divide the tanks into many small waste groupings. The purpose for grouping tanks is so that limited gas retention and release data, which may be availablemore » for some tanks within a group, can be applied to other tanks containing the same waste form. This is necessary when estimating waste properties for tanks with missing or incomplete information. Following the workshop, a preliminary tank grouping was prepared based on content of solids, liquids, sludge, saltcake, or salt slurry The saltcake and salt slurry were then grouped together and referred to as saltcake/salt slurry. Initial tank classifications were based on waste forms from the Rest Basis Inventory, the Hanford Defined Waste (HDW) (''Agnew'') Model, or the Waste Tank Summary (''Hanlon'') Report The results of this grouping arc presented in ''Flamable Gas Safety Analysis Data Review'', SNL-000 198 (Barker, et al., 1999). At the time of the release of SNL-000198, tank waste inventories were not consistent between published sources, such as the ''Best Basis Inventory'' and the ''Waste Tank Summary Report for Month Ending August 31, 1999'' (Hanlon l999). This calculation note documents the process and basis used when revising the waste groupings following the release of SNL-000198. The waste layer volume information is compared between the various databases, including information obtained from process measurements. Differences are then resolved based on tank characterization information and waste behavior.« less

Waste isolation safety assessment program. Task 4. Third contractor information meeting

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1980-06-01

The Contractor Information Meeting (October 14 to 17, 1979) was part of the FY-1979 effort of Task 4 of the Waste Isolation Safety Assessment Program (WISAP): Sorption/Desorption Analysis. The objectives of this task are to: evaluate sorption/desorption measurement methods and develop a standardized measurement procedure; produce a generic data bank of nuclide-geologic interactions using a wide variety of geologic media and groundwaters; perform statistical analysis and synthesis of these data; perform validation studies to compare short-term laboratory studies to long-term in situ behavior; develop a fundamental understanding of sorption/desorption processes; produce x-ray and gamma-emitting isotopes suitable for the study ofmore » actinides at tracer concentrations; disseminate resulting information to the international technical community; and provide input data support for repository safety assessment. Conference participants included those subcontracted to WISAP Task 4, representatives and independent subcontractors to the Office of Nuclear Waste Isolation, representatives from other waste disposal programs, and experts in the area of waste/geologic media interaction. Since the meeting, WISAP has been divided into two programs: Assessment of Effectiveness of Geologic Isolation Systems (AEGIS) (modeling efforts) and Waste/Rock Interactions Technology (WRIT) (experimental work). The WRIT program encompasses the work conducted under Task 4. This report contains the information presented at the Task 4, Third Contractor Information Meeting. Technical Reports from the subcontractors, as well as Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL), are provided along with transcripts of the question-and-answer sessions. The agenda and abstracts of the presentations are also included. Appendix A is a list of the participants. Appendix B gives an overview of the WRIT program and details the WRIT work breakdown structure for 1980.« less

Waste Sampling & Characterization Facility (WSCF) Complex Safety Analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

MELOY, R.T.

2002-04-01

This document was prepared to analyze the Waste Sampling and Characterization Facility for safety consequences by: Determining radionuclide and highly hazardous chemical inventories; Comparing these inventories to the appropriate regulatory limits; Documenting the compliance status with respect to these limits; and Identifying the administrative controls necessary to maintain this status. The primary purpose of the Waste Sampling and Characterization Facility (WSCF) is to perform low-level radiological and chemical analyses on various types of samples taken from the Hanford Site. These analyses will support the fulfillment of federal, Washington State, and Department of Energy requirements.

Waste management to improve food safety and security for health advancement.

PubMed

Lin, Angela Yu-Chen; Huang, Susana Tzy-Ying; Wahlqvist, Mark L

2009-01-01

Economic growth inevitably influences the food chain. Growing demand with changes in lifestyle and health consciousness encourage use of packaged and pre-prepared foods. The needs of environmental protection from waste generated are largely overlooked, and a lack of knowledge about the impact on the environment and its health effects constitute food security/safety problems. Food production and waste generation directly affect resource (i.e., energy and water) consumption and often contaminate the environment. More pressure on food production has inculcated the use of pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics and chemical fertilizers which add to current global pollution. At least half of food grown is discarded before and after it reaches consumers. It is estimated that one third to half of landfill waste comes from the food sector. This landfill releases green house gases (GHG) as well as leachate which worsen soil and water quality and safety. Pharmaceutical and chemical contaminations from residential, industrial and agricultural sources make their way into nearby water and soil and can eventually affect our food systems. Phthalates, PFOA, BPA, commonly used in plastics and personal care products, are found in unacceptable concentrations in Taiwanese waters. They, too, contribute to food contamination and long-term health risk. Existing waste management strategies warrant more stringent norms for waste reduction at source. Awareness through education could reduce food waste and its consequences. This review encompasses impacts of food production systems on the environment, pollution which results from food waste, costs and economic advantages in food waste management, and health consequences of waste.

The Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Risoluti, P.

The Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (the Joint Convention) is the only legally binding international treaty in the area of radioactive waste management. It was adopted by a Diplomatic Conference in September 1997 and opened for signature on 29 September 1997. The Convention entered into force on 18 June 1998, and to date (September 04) has been signed by 42 States, of which 34 have formally ratified, thus becoming Contracting Parties. The Joint Convention applies to spent fuel and radioactive waste resulting from civilian application. Its principal aim ismore » to achieve and maintain a high degree of safety in their management worldwide. The Convention is an incentive instrument, not designed to ensure fulfillment of obligations through control and sanction, but by a peer pressure. The obligations of the Contracting Parties are mainly based on the international safety standards developed by the IAEA in past decades. The Convention is intended for all countries generating radioactive waste. Therefore it is relevant not only for those using nuclear power, but for any country where application of nuclear energy in medicine, conventional industry and research is currently used. Obligations of Contracting Parties include attending periodic Review Meetings and prepare National Reports for review by the other Contracting Parties. The National Reports should describe how the country is complying with the requirements of the Articles of the Convention. The first such meeting was held at the IAEA headquarters in November 2003. This paper will describe the origin of the Convention, present its content, the expected outcome for the worldwide safety, and the benefits for a country to be part of it.« less

The role of health and safety experts in the management of hazardous and toxic wastes in Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Supriyadi; Hadiyanto

2018-02-01

Occupational Safety and Health Experts in Indonesia have an important role in integrating environmental health and safety factors, including in this regard as human resources assigned to undertake hazardous waste management. Comprehensive knowledge and competence skills need to be carried out responsibly, as an inherent professional occupational safety and health profession. Management leaders should continue to provide training in external agencies responsible for science in the management of toxic waste to enable occupational safety and health experts to improve their performance in the hierarchy of control over the presence of hazardous materials. This paper provides an overview of what strategies and competencies the Occupational Safety and Health expert needs to have in embracing hazardous waste management practices.

Mobile site safety review for the transuranic (TRU) waste characterization program

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1996-11-01

This Safety Review Document (SRD) applies to the Active/Passive Neutron Examination and Assay (APNEA) system installed on a Lockheed Martin Specialty Components, Inc., (Specialty Components) trailer. The APNEA is designed to perform nuclear waste drum assay. The purpose of this document is to describe the safety features of the APNEA system.

Summary of the study of disposal of nuclear waste into space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rom, F. E.

1973-01-01

NASA, at the request of the AEC, is conducting a preliminary study to determine the feasibility of disposing of nuclear waste material into space. The study has indicated that the Space Shuttle together with expendable and nonexpendable orbital stages such as the Space Tug or Centaur can safety dispose of waste material by ejecting it from the solar system. The safety problems associated with all phases of launching and operation (normal, emergency and accident) of such a system are being examined. From the preliminary study it appears that solutions can be found that should make the risks acceptable when compared to the benefits to be obtained from the disposal of the nuclear waste.

Battery collection in municipal waste management in Japan: challenges for hazardous substance control and safety.

PubMed

Terazono, Atsushi; Oguchi, Masahiro; Iino, Shigenori; Mogi, Satoshi

2015-05-01

To clarify current collection rules of waste batteries in municipal waste management in Japan and to examine future challenges for hazardous substance control and safety, we reviewed collection rules of waste batteries in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. We also conducted a field survey of waste batteries collected at various battery and small waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) collection sites in Tokyo. The different types of batteries are not collected in a uniform way in the Tokyo area, so consumers need to pay attention to the specific collection rules for each type of battery in each municipality. In areas where small WEEE recycling schemes are being operated after the enforcement of the Act on Promotion of Recycling of Small Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment in Japan in 2013, consumers may be confused about the need for separating batteries from small WEEE (especially mobile phones). Our field survey of collected waste batteries indicated that 6-10% of zinc carbon and alkaline batteries discarded in Japan currently could be regarded as containing mercury. More than 26% of zinc carbon dry batteries currently being discarded may have a lead content above the labelling threshold of the EU Batteries Directive (2006/66/EC). In terms of safety, despite announcements by producers and municipalities about using insulation (tape) on waste batteries to prevent fires, only 2.0% of discarded cylindrical dry batteries were insulated. Our field study of small WEEE showed that batteries made up an average of 4.6% of the total collected small WEEE on a weight basis. Exchangeable batteries were used in almost all of mobile phones, digital cameras, radios, and remote controls, but the removal rate was as low as 22% for mobile phones. Given the safety issues and the rapid changes occurring with mobile phones or other types of small WEEE, discussion is needed among stakeholders to determine how to safely collect and recycle WEEE and waste batteries. Copyright �

Waste collection in developing countries - Tackling occupational safety and health hazards at their source

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bleck, Daniela, E-mail: bleck.daniela@baua.bund.de; Wettberg, Wieland, E-mail: wettberg.wieland@baua.bund.de

2012-11-15

Waste management procedures in developing countries are associated with occupational safety and health risks. Gastro-intestinal infections, respiratory and skin diseases as well as muscular-skeletal problems and cutting injuries are commonly found among waste workers around the globe. In order to find efficient, sustainable solutions to reduce occupational risks of waste workers, a methodological risk assessment has to be performed and counteractive measures have to be developed according to an internationally acknowledged hierarchy. From a case study in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia suggestions for the transferral of collected household waste into roadside containers are given. With construction of ramps to dump collectedmore » household waste straight into roadside containers and an adaptation of pushcarts and collection procedures, the risk is tackled at the source.« less

Mixed and low-level waste treatment project: Appendix C, Health and safety criteria for the mixed and low-level waste treatment facility at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Neupauer, R.M.; Thurmond, S.M.

This report contains health and safety information relating to the chemicals that have been identified in the mixed waste streams at the Waste Treatment Facility at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Information is summarized in two summary sections--one for health considerations and one for safety considerations. Detailed health and safety information is presented in material safety data sheets (MSDSs) for each chemical.

Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Safety-Kleen Corporation - Linden Recycling Center in Linden, New Jersey

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Safety-Kleen Incorporated occupies this 11-acre facility at 1200 Sylvan Street in an industrial section of Linden, New Jersey. Safety-Kleen recovers spent solvents and treats both hazardous and non-hazardous waste. The Linden Airport and Conrail surround

Waste Isolation Safety Assessment Program. Technical progress report for FY-1978

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brandstetter, A.; Harwell, M.A.; Howes, B.W.

1979-07-01

Associated with commercial nuclear power production in the United States is the generation of potentially hazardous radioactive wastes. The Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking to develop nuclear waste isolation systems in geologic formations that will preclude contact with the biosphere of waste radionuclides in concentrations which are sufficient to cause deleterious impact on humans or their environments. Comprehensive analyses of specific isolation systems are needed to assess the expectations of meeting that objective. The Waste Isolation Safety Assessment Program (WISAP) has been established at the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (operated by Battelle Memorial Institute) for developing the capability of makingmore » those analyses. Progress on the following tasks is reported: release scenario analysis, waste form release rate analysis, release consequence analysis, sorption-desorption analysis, and societal acceptance analysis. (DC)« less

The Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent fuel Management and on the safety of Radioactive Waste Management: A UK Regulator's Perspective

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lacey, D.; Bacon, M.L.

The UK fully supports the objective of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management to achieve and maintain a high level of safety worldwide in spent fuel and radioactive waste management, through the enhancement of national measures and international co-operation, including where appropriate, safety-related co-operation. The UK's Health and Safety Executive, through its Nuclear Safety Directorate (NSD), has been committed to the Convention since the initial negotiations to set up the Convention and provided the president of the first review meeting in 2003. It would be wrong of anymore » nation to believe that they have all the best solutions to managing spent fuel and radioactive waste. The process of compiling reports for the Convention review meetings provides a structured process through which every contracting party can review its provisions against a common set of standards and identify for itself possible areas of improvements. The sharing of reports and the asking and answering of questions then provides a further opportunity for both sharing of experience and learning. The UK was encouraged by the spirit of constructive discussion rather than negative criticism that pervaded the first review meeting that provided an incentive for all to learn and improve. While, as could be expected of the first meeting of such a group, not everything worked as well as could be hoped for, all parties seemed committed to learn from mistakes and to make the process more effective. Lessons were learned from the Nuclear Safety Convention on the process of submitting reports electronically and the UK actively supported aims to use IAEA requirements documents as an additional focus for reports. This should, we hope, provide for even better benchmarking of achievements and provide feedback for improvements of the IAEA requirements where appropriate. In summary, the UK finds the Joint Convention process to be a

Slovenian Experience with the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stritar, A.

Slovenia is a relatively small European country with only one operating nuclear power plant, one operating research reactor and one Central Interim Storage for Radioactive Waste from small producers. There are also a uranium mine and mill at Zirovski vrh, both in the decommissioning stage. The Slovenian Government, its public and neighboring countries are most interested in the managing of radioactive waste in the safest possible way by carefully utilizing best practices and existing human and financial resources. In order to achieve this goal the tight connection with the international community in the area of radioactive waste management is essential.more » Slovenia was among those countries involved in the process of preparation of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (Joint Convention) from the very beginning and was also among first ratifiers. Slovenia had prepared the first report under the Convention and took part in the first Review Meeting in November 2003. The preparation of this report was not regarded only as a fulfillment of obligation toward Joint Convention, but was considered primarily as a kind of self appraisal of the national radioactive management program. Therefore the preparation of the report primarily contributed to the improvements in the field of radioactive waste management and consequently enhanced the safety of our public. For the preparation of the second report for the review meeting in 2006 it was decided to follow the structure of the first report. Only updates were introduced and eventual changes in the area of radioactive waste management were reflected. (authors)« less

Criticality Safety Evaluations on the Use of 200-gram Pu Mass Limit for RHWM Waste Storage Operations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chou, P

This work establishes the criticality safety technical basis to increase the fissile mass limit from 120 grams to 200 grams for Type A 55-gallon drums and their equivalents. Current RHWM fissile mass limit is 120 grams Pu for Type A 55-gallon containers and their equivalent. In order to increase the Type A 55-gallon drum limit to 200 grams, a few additional criticality safety control requirements are needed on moderators, reflectors, and array controls to ensure that the 200-gram Pu drums remain criticality safe with inadvertent criticality remains incredible. The purpose of this work is to analyze the use of 200-grammore » Pu drum mass limit for waste storage operations in Radioactive and Hazardous Waste Management (RHWM) Facilities. In this evaluation, the criticality safety controls associated with the 200-gram Pu drums are established for the RHWM waste storage operations. With the implementation of these criticality safety controls, the 200-gram Pu waste drum storage operations are demonstrated to be criticality safe and meet the double-contingency-principle requirement per DOE O 420.1.« less

Development and application of a safety assessment methodology for waste disposals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Little, R.H.; Torres, C.; Schaller, K.H.

1996-12-31

As part of a European Commission funded research programme, QuantiSci (formerly the Environmental Division of Intera Information Technologies) and Instituto de Medio Ambiente of the Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas Medioambientales y Tecnologicas (IMA/CIEMAT) have developed and applied a comprehensive, yet practicable, assessment methodology for post-disposal safety assessment of land-based disposal facilities. This Safety Assessment Comparison (SACO) Methodology employs a systematic approach to the collection, evaluation and use of waste and disposal system data. It can be used to assess engineered barrier performance, the attenuating properties of host geological formations, and the long term impacts of a facility on the environmentmore » and human health, as well as allowing the comparison of different disposal options for radioactive, mixed and non-radioactive wastes. This paper describes the development of the methodology and illustrates its use.« less

[Systemic approach to ecologic safety at objects with radiation jeopardy, involved into localization of low and medium radioactive waste].

PubMed

Veselov, E I

2011-01-01

The article deals with specifying systemic approach to ecologic safety of objects with radiation jeopardy. The authors presented stages of work and algorithm of decisions on preserving reliability of storage for radiation jeopardy waste. Findings are that providing ecologic safety can cover 3 approaches: complete exemption of radiation jeopardy waste, removal of more dangerous waste from present buildings and increasing reliability of prolonged localization of radiation jeopardy waste at the initial place. The systemic approach presented could be realized at various radiation jeopardy objects.

Mixed and low-level waste treatment project: Appendix C, Health and safety criteria for the mixed and low-level waste treatment facility at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Part 2, Chemical constituents

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Neupauer, R.M.; Thurmond, S.M.

This report contains health and safety information relating to the chemicals that have been identified in the mixed waste streams at the Waste Treatment Facility at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Information is summarized in two summary sections--one for health considerations and one for safety considerations. Detailed health and safety information is presented in material safety data sheets (MSDSs) for each chemical.

Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation Waste Integrated Performance and Safety Codes (NEAMS Waste IPSC).

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schultz, Peter Andrew

The objective of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation Waste Integrated Performance and Safety Codes (NEAMS Waste IPSC) is to provide an integrated suite of computational modeling and simulation (M&S) capabilities to quantitatively assess the long-term performance of waste forms in the engineered and geologic environments of a radioactive-waste storage facility or disposal repository. Achieving the objective of modeling the performance of a disposal scenario requires describing processes involved in waste form degradation and radionuclide release at the subcontinuum scale, beginning with mechanistic descriptions of chemical reactions and chemical kinetics at the atomicmore » scale, and upscaling into effective, validated constitutive models for input to high-fidelity continuum scale codes for coupled multiphysics simulations of release and transport. Verification and validation (V&V) is required throughout the system to establish evidence-based metrics for the level of confidence in M&S codes and capabilities, including at the subcontiunuum scale and the constitutive models they inform or generate. This Report outlines the nature of the V&V challenge at the subcontinuum scale, an approach to incorporate V&V concepts into subcontinuum scale modeling and simulation (M&S), and a plan to incrementally incorporate effective V&V into subcontinuum scale M&S destined for use in the NEAMS Waste IPSC work flow to meet requirements of quantitative confidence in the constitutive models informed by subcontinuum scale phenomena.« less

Scenario for the safety assessment of near surface radioactive waste disposal in Serpong, Indonesia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Purnomo, A.S.

2007-07-01

Near surface disposal has been practiced for some decades, with a wide variation in sites, types and amounts of wastes, and facility designs employed. Experience has shown that the effective and safe isolation of waste depends on the performance of the overall disposal system, which is formed by three major components or barriers: the site, the disposal facility and the waste form. The objective of radioactive waste disposal is to isolate waste so that it does not result in undue radiation exposure to humans and the environment. In near surface disposal, the disposal facility is located on or below themore » ground surface, where the protective covering is generally a few meters thick. These facilities are intended to contain low and intermediate level waste without appreciable quantities of long-lived radionuclides. Safety is the most important aspect in the applications of nuclear technology and the implementation of nuclear activities in Indonesia. This aspect is reflected by a statement in the Act Number 10 Year 1997, that 'The Development and use of nuclear energy in Indonesia has to be carried out in such away to assure the safety and health of workers, the public and the protection of the environment'. Serpong are one of the sites for a nuclear research center facility, it is the biggest one in Indonesia. In the future will be developed the first near surface disposal on site of the nuclear research facility in Serpong. The paper will mainly focus on scenario of the safety assessments of near-surface radioactive waste disposal is often important to evaluate the performance of the disposal system (disposal facility, geosphere and biosphere). It will give detail, how at the present and future conditions, including anticipated and less probable events in order to prevent radionuclide migration to human and environment. Refer to the geology characteristic and ground water table is enable to place something Near Surface Disposal on unsaturated zone in Serpong

Battery collection in municipal waste management in Japan: Challenges for hazardous substance control and safety

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Terazono, Atsushi, E-mail: terazono@nies.go.jp; Oguchi, Masahiro; Iino, Shigenori

insulation (tape) on waste batteries to prevent fires, only 2.0% of discarded cylindrical dry batteries were insulated. Our field study of small WEEE showed that batteries made up an average of 4.6% of the total collected small WEEE on a weight basis. Exchangeable batteries were used in almost all of mobile phones, digital cameras, radios, and remote controls, but the removal rate was as low as 22% for mobile phones. Given the safety issues and the rapid changes occurring with mobile phones or other types of small WEEE, discussion is needed among stakeholders to determine how to safely collect and recycle WEEE and waste batteries.« less

Study of extraterrestrial disposal of radioactive wastes. Part 3: Preliminary feasibility screening study of space disposal of the actinide radioactive wastes with 1 percent and 0.1 percent fission product contamination

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hyland, R. E.; Wohl, M. L.; Finnegan, P. M.

1973-01-01

A preliminary study was conducted of the feasibility of space disposal of the actinide class of radioactive waste material. This waste was assumed to contain 1 and 0.1 percent residual fission products, since it may not be feasible to completely separate the actinides. The actinides are a small fraction of the total waste but they remain radioactive much longer than the other wastes and must be isolated from human encounter for tens of thousands of years. Results indicate that space disposal is promising but more study is required, particularly in the area of safety. The minimum cost of space transportation would increase the consumer electric utility bill by the order of 1 percent for earth escape and 3 percent for solar escape. The waste package in this phase of the study was designed for normal operating conditions only; the design of next phase of the study will include provisions for accident safety. The number of shuttle launches per year required to dispose of all U.S. generated actinide waste with 0.1 percent residual fission products varies between 3 and 15 in 1985 and between 25 and 110 by 2000. The lower values assume earth escape (solar orbit) and the higher values are for escape from the solar system.

Radiation safety requirements for radioactive waste management in the framework of a quality management system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Salgado, M.M.; Benitez, J.C.; Pernas, R.

2007-07-01

The Center for Radiation Protection and Hygiene (CPHR) is the institution responsible for the management of radioactive wastes generated from nuclear applications in medicine, industry and research in Cuba. Radioactive Waste Management Service is provided at a national level and it includes the collection and transportation of radioactive wastes to the Centralized Waste Management Facilities, where they are characterized, segregated, treated, conditioned and stored. A Quality Management System, according to the ISO 9001 Standard has been implemented for the RWM Service at CPHR. The Management System includes the radiation safety requirements established for RWM in national regulations and in themore » Licence's conditions. The role of the Regulatory Body and the Radiation Protection Officer in the Quality Management System, the authorization of practices, training and personal qualification, record keeping, inspections of the Regulatory Body and internal inspection of the Radiation Protection Officer, among other aspects, are described in this paper. The Quality Management System has shown to be an efficient tool to demonstrate that adequate measures are in place to ensure the safety in radioactive waste management activities and their continual improvement. (authors)« less

Slurry growth, gas retention, and flammable gas generation by Hanford radioactive waste tanks: Synthetic waste studies, FY 1991

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bryan, S.A.; Pederson, L.R.; Ryan, J.L.

1992-08-01

Of 177 high-level waste storage tanks on the Hanford Site, 23 have been placed on a safety watch list because they are suspected of producing flammable gases in flammable or explosive concentrate. One tankin particular, Tank 241-SY-101 (Tank 101-SY), has exhibited slow increases in waste volume followed by a rapid decrease accompanied by venting of large quantities of gases. The purpose of this study is to help determine the processes by which flammable gases are produced, retained, and eventually released from Tank 101-SY. Waste composition data for single- and double-shell waste tanks on the flammable gas watch listare critically reviewed.more » The results of laboratory studies using synthetic double-shell wastes are summarized, including physical and chemical properties of crusts that are formed, the stoichiometry and rate ofgas generation, and mechanisms responsible for formation of a floating crust.« less

The safety of non-incineration waste disposal devices in four hospitals of Tehran.

PubMed

Farshad, Aliasghar; Gholami, Hamid; Farzadkia, Mahdi; Mirkazemi, Roksana; Kermani, Majid

2014-01-01

The safe management of hospital waste is a challenge in many developing countries. The aim of this study was to compare volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions and the microbial disinfectant safety in non-incineration waste disposal devices. VOC emissions and microbial infections were measured in four non-incineration waste disposal devices including: autoclave with and without a shredder, dry heat system, and hydroclave. Using NIOSH and US EPA-TO14 guidelines, the concentration and potential risk of VOCs in emitted gases from four devices were assessed. ProSpore2 biological indicators were used to assess the microbial analysis of waste residue. There was a significant difference in the type and concentration of VOCs and microbial infection of residues in the four devices. Emissions from the autoclave with a shredder had the highest concentration of benzene, ethyl benzene, xylene, and BTEX, and emissions from the hydroclave had the highest concentration of toluene. The highest level of microbial infection was observed in the residues of the autoclave without a shredder. There is an increased need for proper regulation and control of non-incinerator devices and for monitoring and proper handling of these devices in developing countries.

Knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of 'teaching laboratory' technicians towards laboratory safety and waste management: a pilot interventional study.

PubMed

El-Gilany, A-H; El-Shaer, S; Khashaba, E; El-Dakroory, S A; Omar, N

2017-06-01

A quasi-experimental study was performed on 20 technicians working in the Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Egypt. The knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of laboratory technicians was measured before and two months after enrolling them in an intervention programme about laboratory best practice procedures. The programme addressed laboratory safety and medical waste management. The assessment was performed using a validated Arabic self-administered questionnaire. Pre- and post-intervention scores were compared using non-parametric tests. There are significant increases in the scores of KAP after implementation of the training programme. Copyright © 2017 The Healthcare Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microbiological Safety of Animal Wastes Processed by Physical Heat Treatment: An Alternative To Eliminate Human Pathogens in Biological Soil Amendments as Recommended by the Food Safety Modernization Act.

PubMed

Chen, Zhao; Jiang, Xiuping

2017-03-01

Animal wastes have high nutritional value as biological soil amendments of animal origin for plant cultivation in sustainable agriculture; however, they can be sources of some human pathogens. Although composting is an effective way to reduce pathogen levels in animal wastes, pathogens may still survive under certain conditions and persist in the composted products, which potentially could lead to fresh produce contamination. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Safety Modernization Act, alternative treatments are recommended for reducing or eliminating human pathogens in raw animal manure. Physical heat treatments can be considered an effective method to inactivate pathogens in animal wastes. However, microbial inactivation in animal wastes can be affected by many factors, such as composition of animal wastes, type and physiological stage of the tested microorganism, and heat source. Following some current processing guidelines for physical heat treatments may not be adequate for completely eliminating pathogens from animal wastes. Therefore, this article primarily reviews the microbiological safety and economic value of physically heat-treated animal wastes as biological soil amendments.

Analysis of human factors effects on the safety of transporting radioactive waste materials: Technical report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Abkowitz, M.D.; Abkowitz, S.B.; Lepofsky, M.

1989-04-01

This report examines the extent of human factors effects on the safety of transporting radioactive waste materials. It is seen principally as a scoping effort, to establish whether there is a need for DOE to undertake a more formal approach to studying human factors in radioactive waste transport, and if so, logical directions for that program to follow. Human factors effects are evaluated on driving and loading/transfer operations only. Particular emphasis is placed on the driving function, examining the relationship between human error and safety as it relates to the impairment of driver performance. Although multi-modal in focus, the widespreadmore » availability of data and previous literature on truck operations resulted in a primary study focus on the trucking mode from the standpoint of policy development. In addition to the analysis of human factors accident statistics, the report provides relevant background material on several policies that have been instituted or are under consideration, directed at improving human reliability in the transport sector. On the basis of reported findings, preliminary policy areas are identified. 71 refs., 26 figs., 5 tabs.« less

PROBABILISTIC SAFETY ASSESSMENT OF OPERATIONAL ACCIDENTS AT THE WASTE ISOLATION PILOT PLANT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rucker, D.F.

2000-09-01

This report presents a probabilistic safety assessment of radioactive doses as consequences from accident scenarios to complement the deterministic assessment presented in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Safety Analysis Report (SAR). The International Council of Radiation Protection (ICRP) recommends both assessments be conducted to ensure that ''an adequate level of safety has been achieved and that no major contributors to risk are overlooked'' (ICRP 1993). To that end, the probabilistic assessment for the WIPP accident scenarios addresses the wide range of assumptions, e.g. the range of values representing the radioactive source of an accident, that could possibly have beenmore » overlooked by the SAR. Routine releases of radionuclides from the WIPP repository to the environment during the waste emplacement operations are expected to be essentially zero. In contrast, potential accidental releases from postulated accident scenarios during waste handling and emplacement could be substantial, which necessitates the need for radiological air monitoring and confinement barriers (DOE 1999). The WIPP Safety Analysis Report (SAR) calculated doses from accidental releases to the on-site (at 100 m from the source) and off-site (at the Exclusive Use Boundary and Site Boundary) public by a deterministic approach. This approach, as demonstrated in the SAR, uses single-point values of key parameters to assess the 50-year, whole-body committed effective dose equivalent (CEDE). The basic assumptions used in the SAR to formulate the CEDE are retained for this report's probabilistic assessment. However, for the probabilistic assessment, single-point parameter values were replaced with probability density functions (PDF) and were sampled over an expected range. Monte Carlo simulations were run, in which 10,000 iterations were performed by randomly selecting one value for each parameter and calculating the dose. Statistical information was then derived from the 10

The safety of non-incineration waste disposal devices in four hospitals of Tehran

PubMed Central

Farshad, Aliasghar; Gholami, Hamid; Farzadkia, Mahdi; Mirkazemi, Roksana; Kermani, Majid

2014-01-01

Background: The safe management of hospital waste is a challenge in many developing countries. Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions and the microbial disinfectant safety in non-incineration waste disposal devices. Methods: VOC emissions and microbial infections were measured in four non-incineration waste disposal devices including: autoclave with and without a shredder, dry heat system, and hydroclave. Using NIOSH and US EPA-TO14 guidelines, the concentration and potential risk of VOCs in emitted gases from four devices were assessed. ProSpore2 biological indicators were used to assess the microbial analysis of waste residue. Results: There was a significant difference in the type and concentration of VOCs and microbial infection of residues in the four devices. Emissions from the autoclave with a shredder had the highest concentration of benzene, ethyl benzene, xylene, and BTEX, and emissions from the hydroclave had the highest concentration of toluene. The highest level of microbial infection was observed in the residues of the autoclave without a shredder. Conclusions: There is an increased need for proper regulation and control of non-incinerator devices and for monitoring and proper handling of these devices in developing countries. PMID:25000113

Preliminary safety analysis of the Baita Bihor radioactive waste repository, Romania

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Little, Richard; Bond, Alex; Watson, Sarah

2007-07-01

A project funded under the European Commission's Phare Programme 2002 has undertaken an in-depth analysis of the operational and post-closure safety of the Baita Bihor repository. The repository has accepted low- and some intermediate-level radioactive waste from industry, medical establishments and research activities since 1985 and the current estimate is that disposals might continue for around another 20 to 35 years. The analysis of the operational and post-closure safety of the Baita Bihor repository was carried out in two iterations, with the second iteration resulting in reduced uncertainties, largely as a result taking into account new information on the hydrologymore » and hydrogeology of the area, collected as part of the project. Impacts were evaluated for the maximum potential inventory that might be available for disposal to Baita Bihor for a number of operational and postclosure scenarios and associated conceptual models. The results showed that calculated impacts were below the relevant regulatory criteria. In light of the assessment, a number of recommendations relating to repository operation, optimisation of repository engineering and waste disposals, and environmental monitoring were made. (authors)« less

Preliminary safety concept for disposal of the very low level radioactive waste in Romania.

PubMed

Niculae, O; Andrei, V; Ionita, G; Duliu, O G

2009-05-01

In Romania, there are certain nuclear installations in operation or under decommissioning, all of them representing an important source of very low level waste (VLLW). This paper presents an overview on the approach of the VLLW management in Romania, focused on those resulted from the nuclear power plants decommissioning. At the same time, the basic elements of safety concept, together with some safety evaluations concerning VLLW repository are presented and discussed too.

Defining and managing biohazardous waste in U.S. research-oriented universities: a survey of environmental health and safety professionals.

PubMed

Mecklem, Robin Lyn; Neumann, Catherine M

2003-01-01

A survey was conducted of environmental health and safety professionals responsible for biohazardous waste management at 122 institutions. The overall response rate was 82.6 percent (100 out of 122). Results indicate that university policies for biohazardous waste are heavily influenced by state environmental regulations, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, and the biosafety guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. With respect to definition of waste, 84 percent of the universities treat non-infectious human-cell-culture waste as biohazardous. Sharp items, including hypodermic needles, syringes with needles, and scalpel blades, are commonly treated (by 85 percent of universities) as biohazardous sharps regardless of contamination status. Importantly, while 90 percent of universities use autoclave sterilization for waste treatment, only 52 percent use a biological indicator to validate the process. On-site incineration is currently used by 42 percent of universities. Twenty-two of 42 incinerators are hospital/medical/infectious-waste incinerators, and 10 of these will continue to operate under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's revised incinerator regulations. Eighty-seven percent of the respondents indicated that some portion of their university's biohazardous waste is treated and disposed of through a licensed medical waste hauler (MWH). To ensure compliance with institutional policy, most universities segregate and package waste, train waste generators, and conduct inspections.

The safety improvement of Romanian radioactive waste facilities as an example for human and environmental protection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barariu, Gheorghe

2013-07-01

According to IAEA classification, Romania with two nuclear research centres, with 2 Nuclear Power Units in operation at Cernavoda Town and with 2 new Units envisaged to be in operation soon, can be considered as a country with an average nuclear activity. In Romania there was an extensive interest in management of radioactive wastes generated by the use of nuclear technology in industry and research. Using the most advanced technologies in the mentioned time periods, Romania successfully accomplished to solve all management issues related to radioactive wastes being addressed all safety concerns. Every step of nuclear activity development was accompaniedmore » by the suitable waste management facilities. So that, in order to improve the existing treatment and disposal capacities for institutional waste, the existing Radioactive Waste Treatment Facility (STDR) and the National Repository Radioactive Wastes (DNDR) at Baita, Bihor, will be improved to actual requirements on the occasion of VVR-S Research Reactor decommissioning. This activity is in development into the frame of a National funded project related to disposal galleries filling improvement and repository closure for DNDR Baita, Bihor. All improvements will be approved by Environmental Protection Authority and Regulatory Body, being a guaranty of human and environmental protection. Also, in accordance with national specific and international policies and taking into account decommissioning activities related to the present operating NPPs, all necessary measures were considered in order to avoid unnecessary generation of radioactive wastes, to minimize, as much as possible, waste production and accumulation and the necessity to develop optimum solutions for a new repository with the assurance of improved nuclear safety. (authors)« less

Advanced Fuel Cycles for Fusion Reactors: Passive Safety and Zero-Waste Options

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zucchetti, Massimo; Sugiyama, Linda E.

2006-05-01

Nuclear fusion is seen as a much ''cleaner'' energy source than fission. Most of the studies and experiments on nuclear fusion are currently devoted to the Deuterium-Tritium (DT) fuel cycle, since it is the easiest way to reach ignition. The recent stress on safety by the world's community has stimulated the research on other fuel cycles than the DT one, based on 'advanced' reactions, such as the Deuterium-Helium-3 (DHe) one. These reactions pose problems, such as the availability of 3He and the attainment of the higher plasma parameters that are required for burning. However, they have many advantages, like for instance the very low neutron activation, while it is unnecessary to breed and fuel tritium. The extrapolation of Ignitor technologies towards a larger and more powerful experiment using advanced fuel cycles (Candor) has been studied. Results show that Candor does reach the passive safety and zero-waste option. A fusion power reactor based on the DHe cycle could be the ultimate response to the environmental requirements for future nuclear power plants.

Electromagnetic Processing as a Way of Increasing Microbiological Safety of Animal Waste

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soboleva, O. M.; Kolosova, M. M.; Filipovich, L. A.; Aksenov, V. A.

2017-05-01

The article shows the possibility of using the electromagnetic field of ultrahigh frequency (EMF UHF) for drying and disinfecting of such animal waste as pig manure and poultry droppings. The studied modes included the following options: processing exposure of 60, 90, 120 sec, the capacity of 60 kW, the frequency of 915 MHz. The method of UHF processing of manure and poultry droppings is environmentally safe and effective in neutralizing the pathogenic microflora, as well as larvae and eggs of worms. The following processing mode of animal waste in the electromagnetic field of ultrahigh frequency was recognized as optimal: exposure of 90 seconds, the capacity of 60 kW, the frequency of 915 MHz. This option leads to the complete destruction of pathogenic and conditionally pathogenic microorganisms, as well as the eggs and larvae of worms. As a result of this processing, a high level of microbiological safety of pig manure and poultry droppings is achieved that allows using them as organic fertilizers. The peculiarities of some species of pathogenic fungi developing on the surface of the wheat grain are shown. Pre-processed animal waste (pig manure and and poultry droppings) were applied in experimental variants. Used organic fertilizers underwent electromagnetic processing of ultra-high frequency. The qualitative composition of the microflora on the surface of the grain depends on the type of animal waste (manure or droppings) and used dose. The safest part of the microflora of grain was marked with the application of the UHF-processed pig manure and poultry droppings in doses of 10 t/ha.

Healthcare waste management practices and safety indicators in Nigeria.

PubMed

Oyekale, Abayomi Samuel; Oyekale, Tolulope Olayemi

2017-09-25

risky/safe medical waste disposal (p < 0.05). The study concluded that there was low compliance with standard HCW management. It was recommended that possession of HCW management guidelines, staff training on HCW disposal and provision of requisite equipment for proper treatment of HCW would promote environmental safety in HCW disposal.

Nuclear criticality safety assessment of the low level radioactive waste disposal facility trenches

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kahook, S.D.

1994-04-01

Results of the analyses performed to evaluate the possibility of nuclear criticality in the Low Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility (LLRWDF) trenches are documented in this report. The studies presented in this document are limited to assessment of the possibility of criticality due to existing conditions in the LLRWDF. This document does not propose nor set limits for enriched uranium (EU) burial in the LLRWDF and is not a nuclear criticality safety evaluation nor analysis. The calculations presented in the report are Level 2 calculations as defined by the E7 Procedure 2.31, Engineering Calculations.

Deep Time Iterations: Familiarity, Horizons, and Pattern among Finland's Nuclear Waste Safety Experts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ialenti, Vincent Francis

This ethnography reconsiders nuclear waste risk's deep time horizons' often-sensationalized aesthetics of horror, sublimity, and awe. It does so by tracking how Finland's nuclear energy and waste experts made visions of distant future Finlands appear more intelligible through mundane corporate, regulatory, financial, and technoscientific practices. Each chapter unpacks how informants iterated and reiterated traces of the very familiar to establish shared grounds of continuity for moving forward in time. Chapter 1 explores how Finland's energy sector's "mankala" cooperative corporate form was iterated and reiterated to give shape to political and financial time horizons. Chapter 2 explores how workplace role distinctions between recruit/retiree and junior/senior were iterated and reiterated to reckon nuclear personnel successions' intergenerational horizons. Chapter 3 explores how input/output and part/whole distinctions were iterated and reiterated to help model distant future worlds in a portfolio of "Safety Case" evidence made to demonstrate the Olkiluoto repository's safety to Finnish nuclear regulator STUK. Chapter 4 explores how Safety Case experts iterated and reiterated memories of a deceased predecessor figure in everyday engagements with deep time. What emerges are three insights about how futures attain discernible features--insights about the "continuity," "thinkability," and "extensibility" of expert thought--that, I argue, can help twenty-first century experts better navigate not only deep time, but also unknown futures of nuclear technologies, planetary environment, and expertise itself.

Continuous Improvement and the Safety Case for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Geologic Repository - 13467

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Van Luik, Abraham; Patterson, Russell; Nelson, Roger

2013-07-01

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is a geologic repository 2150 feet (650 m) below the surface of the Chihuahuan desert near Carlsbad, New Mexico. WIPP permanently disposes of transuranic waste from national defense programs. Every five years, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) submits an application to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to request regulatory-compliance re-certification of the facility for another five years. Every ten years, DOE submits an application to the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) for the renewal of its hazardous waste disposal permit. The content of the applications made by DOE to the EPA formore » re-certification, and to the NMED for permit-renewal, reflect any optimization changes made to the facility, with regulatory concurrence if warranted by the nature of the change. DOE points to such changes as evidence for its having taken seriously its 'continuous improvement' operations and management philosophy. Another opportunity for continuous improvement is to look at any delta that may exist between the re-certification and re-permitting cases for system safety and the consensus advice on the nature and content of a safety case as being developed and published by the Nuclear Energy Agency's Integration Group for the Safety Case (IGSC) expert group. DOE at WIPP, with the aid of its Science Advisor and teammate, Sandia National Laboratories, is in the process of discerning what can be done, in a reasonably paced and cost-conscious manner, to continually improve the case for repository safety that is being made to the two primary regulators on a recurring basis. This paper will discuss some aspects of that delta and potential paths forward to addressing them. (authors)« less

Key Performance Criteria Affecting the Most the Safety of a Nuclear Waste Long Term Storage : A Case Study Commissioned by CEA

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Marvy, A.; Lioure, A; Heriard-Dubreuil, G.

2003-02-24

As part of the work scope set in the French law on high level long lived waste R&D passed in 1991, CEA is conducting a research program to establish the scientific basis and assess the feasibility of long term storage as an option for the safe management of nuclear waste for periods as long as centuries. This goal is a significant departure from the current industrial practice where storage facilities are usually built to last only a few decades. From a technical viewpoint such an extension in time seems feasible provided care and maintenance is exercised. Considering such long periodsmore » of time, the risk for Society of loosing oversight and control of such a facility is real, which triggers the question of whether and how long term storage safety can be actually achieved. Therefore CEA commissioned a study (1) in which MUTADIS Consultants (2) and CEPN (3) were both involved. The case study looks into several past and actual human enterprises conducted over significant periods o f time, one of them dating back to the end of the 18th century, and all identified out of the nuclear field. Then-prevailing societal behavior and organizational structures are screened out to show how they were or are still able to cope with similar oversight and control goals. As a result, the study group formulated a set of performance criteria relating to issues like responsibility, securing funds, legal and legislative implications, economic sustainable development, all being areas which are not traditionally considered as far as technical studies are concerned. These criteria can be most useful from the design stage onward, first in an attempt to define the facility construction and operating guiding principles, and thereafter to substantiate the safety case for long term storage and get geared to the public dialogue on that undertaking should it become a reality.« less

Radioactive Wastes.

PubMed

Choudri, B S; Charabi, Yassine; Baawain, Mahad; Ahmed, Mushtaque

2017-10-01

Papers reviewed herein present a general overview of radioactive waste related activities around the world in 2016. The current reveiw include studies related to safety assessments, decommission and decontamination of nuclear facilities, fusion facilities, transportation. Further, the review highlights on management solutions for the final disposal of low and high level radioactive wastes (LLW and HLW), interim storage and final disposal options for spent fuel (SF), and tritiated wastes, with a focus on environmental impacts due to the mobility of radionuclides in ecosystem, water and soil alongwith other progress made in the management of radioactive wastes.

Practical management of chemicals and hazardous wastes: An environmental and safety professional`s guide

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kuhre, W.L.

This book was written to help the environmental and safety student learn about the field and to help the working professional manage hazardous material and waste issues. For example, one issue that will impact virtually all of these people mentioned is the upcoming environmental standardization movement. The International Standards Organization (ISO) is in the process of adding comprehensive environmental and hazardous waste management systems to their future certification requirements. Most industries worldwide will be working hard to achieve this new level of environmental management. This book presents many of the systems needed to receive certification. In order to properly managemore » hazardous waste, it is important to consider the entire life cycle, including when the waste was a useful chemical or hazardous material. Waste minimization is built upon this concept. Understanding the entire life cycle is also important in terms of liability, since many regulations hold generators responsible from cradle to grave. This book takes the life-cycle concept even further, in order to provide additional insight. The discussion starts with the conception of the chemical and traces its evolution into a waste and even past disposal. At this point the story continues into the afterlife, where responsibility still remains.« less

Scenario Analysis for the Safety Assessment of Nuclear Waste Repositories: A Critical Review.

PubMed

Tosoni, Edoardo; Salo, Ahti; Zio, Enrico

2018-04-01

A major challenge in scenario analysis for the safety assessment of nuclear waste repositories pertains to the comprehensiveness of the set of scenarios selected for assessing the safety of the repository. Motivated by this challenge, we discuss the aspects of scenario analysis relevant to comprehensiveness. Specifically, we note that (1) it is necessary to make it clear why scenarios usually focus on a restricted set of features, events, and processes; (2) there is not yet consensus on the interpretation of comprehensiveness for guiding the generation of scenarios; and (3) there is a need for sound approaches to the treatment of epistemic uncertainties. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

Radiologic safety assessment for low level waste storage on TRU pads

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ryan, J.P.

1986-03-17

The reference document (TA 2-1118) proposes to store Low Level Radioactive Solid Waste in B-25 boxes on concrete pads at the 643-G burial ground site, pending resolution of policy concernig its ultimate disposal. This analysis verifies that the reference proposal is safe, as long as it is applied to a limited material quantity of low specific activity, as described in the reference document. The predominant concern in the safety analysis is the emission of airborne activity as a result of tornados and fires. However, containment provided by B-25 boxes is sufficient to mitigate the consequences of these events sufficiently. Nevertheless,more » it is strongly recommended that any above-ground storage procedures include provisions for covering the waste containment boxes to prevent exposure to rainwater and subsequent corrosion if the storage period is to extend beyond one year.« less

Industrial Safety. MAS-123. Waste Isolation Division (WID). Management and Supervisor Training (MAST) Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Westinghouse Electric Corp., Carlsbad, NM.

This learning module, which is part of a management and supervisor training program for managers and supervisors employed at the Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Division, is designed to prepare trainees to promote and monitor the industrial safety program at their plant. The following topics are covered in the module's individual sections:…

Summary of the study of disposal of nuclear waste into space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rom, F. E.

1973-01-01

The space shuttle together with expendable and nonexpendable orbital stages such as the space tug or Centaur can safely dispose of waste material by ejecting it from the solar system. The safety problems associated with all phases of launching and operation (normal, emergency, and accident) of such a system are being examined. It appears that solutions can be found that should make the risks acceptable when compared to the benefits to be obtained from the disposal of the nuclear waste. The techniques proposed to make such a system acceptable need to be carefully verified by further study and experiment.

Confirming criticality safety of TRU waste with neutron measurements and risk analyses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Winn, W.G.; Hochel, R.D.

1992-04-01

The criticality safety of {sup 239}Pu in 55-gallon drums stored in TRU waste containers (culverts) is confirmed using NDA neutron measurements and risk analyses. The neutron measurements yield a {sup 239}Pu mass and k{sub eff} for a culvert, which contains up to 14 drums. Conservative probabilistic risk analyses were developed for both drums and culverts. Overall {sup 239}Pu mass estimates are less than a calculated safety limit of 2800 g per culvert. The largest measured k{sub eff} is 0.904. The largest probability for a critical drum is 6.9 {times} 10{sup {minus}8} and that for a culvert is 1.72 {times} 10{supmore » {minus}7}. All examined suspect culverts, totaling 118 in number, are appraised as safe based on these observations.« less

Biomedical waste management: incineration vs. environmental safety.

PubMed

Gautam, V; Thapar, R; Sharma, M

2010-01-01

Public concerns about incinerator emissions, as well as the creation of federal regulations for medical waste incinerators, are causing many health care facilities to rethink their choices in medical waste treatment. As stated by Health Care Without Harm, non-incineration treatment technologies are a growing and developing field. Most medical waste is incinerated, a practice that is short-lived because of environmental considerations. The burning of solid and regulated medical waste generated by health care creates many problems. Medical waste incinerators emit toxic air pollutants and toxic ash residues that are the major source of dioxins in the environment. International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of WHO, acknowledged dioxins cancer causing potential and classified it as human carcinogen. Development of waste management policies, careful waste segregation and training programs, as well as attention to materials purchased, are essential in minimizing the environmental and health impacts of any technology.

Practices and challenges of infectious waste management: A qualitative descriptive study from tertiary care hospitals in Pakistan

PubMed Central

Kumar, Ramesh; Shaikh, Babar Tasneem; Somrongthong, Ratana; Chapman, Robert S

2015-01-01

Background and Objective: Infectious waste management practices among health care workers in the tertiary care hospitals have been questionable. The study intended to identify issues that impede a proper infectious waste management. Methods: Besides direct observation, in-depths interviews were conducted with the hospital administrators and senior management involved in healthcare waste management during March 2014. We looked at the processes related to segregation, collection, storage and disposal of hospital waste, and identified variety of issues in all the steps. Results: Serious gaps and deficiencies were observed related to segregation, collection, storage and disposal of the hospital wastes, hence proving to be hazardous to the patients as well as the visitors. Poor safety, insufficient budget, lack of trainings, weak monitoring and supervision, and poor coordination has eventually resulted in improper waste management in the tertiary hospitals of Rawalpindi. Conclusion: Study has concluded that the poor resources and lack of healthcare worker’s training in infectious waste results in poor waste management at hospitals. PMID:26430405

The 2007 Projected Impacts to Clark County and Local Government Public Safety Agencies Resulting from the Transportation of High- Level Nuclear Waste to Yucca Mountain

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mushkatel, A.H.; Conway, P.H.D.S.; Navis, I.

2008-07-01

This paper focuses on projecting fiscal impacts to public safety agencies from the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The efforts made by Clark County Nevada, to develop a fiscal model of impacts for public safety agencies are described in this paper. In addition, the scenarios used in the study are discussed, as well as a discussion of the plume models provided for each community's scenario that result from the efforts of the National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center (NARAC). Some of the difficulties in constructing a fiscal model of impacts for the entire 24 year high-level nuclearmore » waste transportation shipping campaign are identified, and a refined methodology is provided to accomplish this task. Finally, a comparison of the fiscal impact projections for public safety agencies that Clark County developed in 2001, 2005 are discussed, and the fiscal impact cost projections for the entire 24 year transportation campaign are provided. (authors)« less

Radioactive waste storage issues

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kunz, Daniel E.

1994-08-15

In the United States we generate greater than 500 million tons of toxic waste per year which pose a threat to human health and the environment. Some of the most toxic of these wastes are those that are radioactively contaminated. This thesis explores the need for permanent disposal facilities to isolate radioactive waste materials that are being stored temporarily, and therefore potentially unsafely, at generating facilities. Because of current controversies involving the interstate transfer of toxic waste, more states are restricting the flow of wastes into - their borders with the resultant outcome of requiring the management (storage and disposal)more » of wastes generated solely within a state`s boundary to remain there. The purpose of this project is to study nuclear waste storage issues and public perceptions of this important matter. Temporary storage at generating facilities is a cause for safety concerns and underscores, the need for the opening of permanent disposal sites. Political controversies and public concern are forcing states to look within their own borders to find solutions to this difficult problem. Permanent disposal or retrievable storage for radioactive waste may become a necessity in the near future in Colorado. Suitable areas that could support - a nuclear storage/disposal site need to be explored to make certain the health, safety and environment of our citizens now, and that of future generations, will be protected.« less

Evaluation of the safety of mobile units for the conditioning of radioactive waste

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Filss, Martin; Wallner, Christian

2013-07-01

In Germany mobile units are used to treat and condition radioactive waste. On behalf of the relevant authorities TUV SUD Industrie Service GmbH evaluates their safety. In this paper we outline the general procedure we apply and point out typical results. Generally, a generic safety case evaluates the effects of incidents and accidents and its consequences for the workers and the public. Special care is necessary to define the radioactive inventory, the nuclide composition and the mobility of the radioactive substances. A systems analysis is carried out. Typical aspects to be considered are the handling procedures, the measurement devices andmore » automatic actions. From the various possible malfunctions the critical ones have to be identified. Generally one or only a few scenarios have to be considered in detail. (authors)« less

Health, Safety, and Environment Division

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wade, C

1992-01-01

The primary responsibility of the Health, Safety, and Environmental (HSE) Division at the Los Alamos National Laboratory is to provide comprehensive occupational health and safety programs, waste processing, and environmental protection. These activities are designed to protect the worker, the public, and the environment. Meeting these responsibilities requires expertise in many disciplines, including radiation protection, industrial hygiene, safety, occupational medicine, environmental science and engineering, analytical chemistry, epidemiology, and waste management. New and challenging health, safety, and environmental problems occasionally arise from the diverse research and development work of the Laboratory, and research programs in HSE Division often stem from thesemore » applied needs. These programs continue but are also extended, as needed, to study specific problems for the Department of Energy. The results of these programs help develop better practices in occupational health and safety, radiation protection, and environmental science.« less

40 CFR 240.209 - Safety.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 25 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Safety. 240.209 Section 240.209 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) SOLID WASTES GUIDELINES FOR THE THERMAL PROCESSING OF SOLID WASTES Requirements and Recommended Procedures § 240.209 Safety. ...

40 CFR 240.209 - Safety.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Safety. 240.209 Section 240.209 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) SOLID WASTES GUIDELINES FOR THE THERMAL PROCESSING OF SOLID WASTES Requirements and Recommended Procedures § 240.209 Safety. ...

Granite disposal of U.S. high-level radioactive waste.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Freeze, Geoffrey A.; Mariner, Paul E.; Lee, Joon H.

This report evaluates the feasibility of disposing U.S. high-level radioactive waste in granite several hundred meters below the surface of the earth. The U.S. has many granite formations with positive attributes for permanent disposal. Similar crystalline formations have been extensively studied by international programs, two of which, in Sweden and Finland, are the host rocks of submitted or imminent repository license applications. This report is enabled by the advanced work of the international community to establish functional and operational requirements for disposal of a range of waste forms in granite media. In this report we develop scoping performance analyses, basedmore » on the applicable features, events, and processes (FEPs) identified by international investigators, to support generic conclusions regarding post-closure safety. Unlike the safety analyses for disposal in salt, shale/clay, or deep boreholes, the safety analysis for a mined granite repository depends largely on waste package preservation. In crystalline rock, waste packages are preserved by the high mechanical stability of the excavations, the diffusive barrier of the buffer, and favorable chemical conditions. The buffer is preserved by low groundwater fluxes, favorable chemical conditions, backfill, and the rigid confines of the host rock. An added advantage of a mined granite repository is that waste packages would be fairly easy to retrieve, should retrievability be an important objective. The results of the safety analyses performed in this study are consistent with the results of comprehensive safety assessments performed for sites in Sweden, Finland, and Canada. They indicate that a granite repository would satisfy established safety criteria and suggest that a small number of FEPs would largely control the release and transport of radionuclides. In the event the U.S. decides to pursue a potential repository in granite, a detailed evaluation of these FEPs would be needed to

Livestock waste treatment systems of the future: A challenge to environmental quality, food safety, and sustainability. OECD Workshop

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This Special Issue of Bioresource Technology is dedicated to selected contributions presented at the international Workshop: “Livestock waste treatment systems of the future: A challenge to environmental quality, food safety, and sustainability,” held 2-4 April, 2008, in Florence, South Carolina (US...

International Approaches for Nuclear Waste Disposal in Geological Formations: Geological Challenges in Radioactive Waste Isolation—Fifth Worldwide Review

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Faybishenko, Boris; Birkholzer, Jens; Sassani, David

The overall objective of the Fifth Worldwide Review (WWR-5) is to document the current state-of-the-art of major developments in a number of nations throughout the World pursuing geological disposal programs, and to summarize challenging problems and experience that have been obtained in siting, preparing and reviewing cases for the operational and long-term safety of proposed and operating nuclear waste repositories. The scope of the Review is to address current specific technical issues and challenges in safety case development along with the interplay of technical feasibility, siting, engineering design issues, and operational and post-closure safety. In particular, the chapters included inmore » the report present the following types of information: the current status of the deep geological repository programs for high level nuclear waste and low- and intermediate level nuclear waste in each country, concepts of siting and radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel management in different countries (with the emphasis of nuclear waste disposal under different climatic conditions and different geological formations), progress in repository site selection and site characterization, technology development, buffer/backfill materials studies and testing, support activities, programs, and projects, international cooperation, and future plans, as well as regulatory issues and transboundary problems.« less

Site Safety and Health Plan (Phase 3) for the treatability study for in situ vitrification at Seepage Pit 1 in Waste Area Grouping 7, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Spalding, B.P.; Naney, M.T.

1995-06-01

This plan is to be implemented for Phase III ISV operations and post operations sampling. Two previous project phases involving site characterization have been completed and required their own site specific health and safety plans. Project activities will take place at Seepage Pit 1 in Waste Area Grouping 7 at ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Purpose of this document is to establish standard health and safety procedures for ORNL project personnel and contractor employees in performance of this work. Site activities shall be performed in accordance with Energy Systems safety and health policies and procedures, DOE orders, Occupational Safety and Healthmore » Administration Standards 29 CFR Part 1910 and 1926; applicable United States Environmental Protection Agency requirements; and consensus standards. Where the word ``shall`` is used, the provisions of this plan are mandatory. Specific requirements of regulations and orders have been incorporated into this plan in accordance with applicability. Included from 29 CFR are 1910.120 Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response; 1910.146, Permit Required - Confined Space; 1910.1200, Hazard Communication; DOE Orders requirements of 5480.4, Environmental Protection, Safety and Health Protection Standards; 5480.11, Radiation Protection; and N5480.6, Radiological Control Manual. In addition, guidance and policy will be followed as described in the Environmental Restoration Program Health and Safety Plan. The levels of personal protection and the procedures specified in this plan are based on the best information available from reference documents and site characterization data. Therefore, these recommendations represent the minimum health and safety requirements to be observed by all personnel engaged in this project.« less

Health care waste management practice in a hospital.

PubMed

Paudel, R; Pradhan, B

2010-10-01

Health-care waste is a by-product of health care. Its poor management exposes health-care workers, waste handlers and the community to infections, toxic effects and injuries including damage of the environment. It also creates opportunities for the collection of disposable medical equipment, its re-sale and potential re-use without sterilization, which causes an important burden of disease worldwide. The purpose of this study was to find out health care waste management practice in hospital. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Narayani Sub-Regional Hospital, Birgunj from May to October 2006 using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Study population was four different departments of the hospital (Medical/Paediatric, Surgical/Ortho, Gynae/Obstetric and Emergency), Medical Superintendent, In-charges of four different departments and all sweepers. Data was collected using interview, group discussion, observation and measurement by weight and volume. Total health-care waste generated was 128.4 kg per day while 0.8 kg per patient per day. The composition of health care waste was found to be 96.8 kg (75.4%) general waste, 24.1 kg (8.8%) hazardous waste and 7.5 kg (5.8%) sharps per day by weight. Health staffs and sweepers were not practicing the waste segregation. Occupational health and safety was not given due attention. Majority of the sweepers were unaware of waste management and need of safety measures to protect their own health. Health care waste management practice in the hospital was unsatisfactory because of the lack of waste management plan and carelessness of patients, visitors and staffs. Therefore the hospital should develop the waste management plan and strictly follow the National Health Care Waste Management Guideline.

The Projected Impacts to Clark County and Local Governmental Public Safety Agencies Resulting from the Transportation of High-Level Nuclear Waste to Yucca Mountain

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mushkatel, A.H.; Conway, S.; Navis, I.

2006-07-01

This paper focuses on the difficulties of projecting fiscal impacts to public safety agencies from the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The efforts made by Clark County Nevada, to develop a fiscal model of impacts for public safety agencies are described in this paper. Some of the difficulties in constructing a fiscal model of impacts for the entire 24 year high-level nuclear waste transportation shipping campaign are identified, and a refined methodology is provided to accomplish this task. Finally, a comparison of the fiscal impact projections for public safety agencies that Clark County developed in 2001,more » with those done in 2005 is discussed, and the fiscal impact cost projections for the entire 24 year transportation campaign are provided. (authors)« less

'Geo'chemical research: a key building block for nuclear waste disposal safety cases.

PubMed

Altmann, Scott

2008-12-12

Disposal of high level radioactive waste in deep underground repositories has been chosen as solution by several countries. Because of the special status this type waste has in the public mind, national implementation programs typically mobilize massive R&D efforts, last decades and are subject to extremely detailed and critical social-political scrutiny. The culminating argument of each program is a 'Safety Case' for a specific disposal concept containing, among other elements, the results of performance assessment simulations whose object is to model the release of radionuclides to the biosphere. Public and political confidence in performance assessment results (which generally show that radionuclide release will always be at acceptable levels) is based on their confidence in the quality of the scientific understanding in the processes included in the performance assessment model, in particular those governing radionuclide speciation and mass transport in the geological host formation. Geochemistry constitutes a core area of research in this regard. Clay-mineral rich formations are the subjects of advanced radwaste programs in several countries (France, Belgium, Switzerland...), principally because of their very low permeabilities and demonstrated capacities to retard by sorption most radionuclides. Among the key processes which must be represented in performance assessment models are (i) radioelement speciation (redox state, speciation, reactions determining radionuclide solid-solution partitioning) and (ii) diffusion-driven transport. The safety case must therefore demonstrate a detailed understanding of the physical-chemical phenomena governing the effects of these two aspects, for each radionuclide, within the geological barrier system. A wide range of coordinated (and internationally collaborated) research has been, and is being, carried out in order to gain the detailed scientific understanding needed for constructing those parts of the Safety Case

Vegetation cover and long-term conservation of radioactive waste packages: the case study of the CSM waste disposal facility (Manche District, France).

PubMed

Petit-Berghem, Yves; Lemperiere, Guy

2012-03-01

The CSM is the first French waste disposal facility for radioactive waste. Waste material is buried several meters deep and protected by a multi-layer cover, and equipped with a drainage system. On the surface, the plant cover is a grassland vegetation type. A scientific assessment has been carried out by the Géophen laboratory, University of Caen, in order to better characterize the plant cover (ecological groups and associated soils) and to observe its medium and long term evolution. Field assessments made on 10 plots were complemented by laboratory analyses carried out over a period of 1 year. The results indicate scenarios and alternative solutions which could arise, in order to passively ensure the long-term safety of the waste disposal system. Several proposals for a blanket solution are currently being studied and discussed, under the auspices of international research institutions in order to determine the most appropriate materials for the storage conditions. One proposal is an increased thickness of these materials associated with a geotechnical barrier since it is well adapted to the forest plants which are likely to colonize the site. The current experiments that are carried out will allow to select the best option and could provide feedback for other waste disposal facility sites already being operated in France (CSFMA waste disposal facility, Aube district) or in other countries.

Waste minimization/pollution prevention study of high-priority waste streams

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ogle, R.B.

1994-03-01

Although waste minimization has been practiced by the Metals and Ceramics (M&C) Division in the past, the effort has not been uniform or formalized. To establish the groundwork for continuous improvement, the Division Director initiated a more formalized waste minimization and pollution prevention program. Formalization of the division`s pollution prevention efforts in fiscal year (FY) 1993 was initiated by a more concerted effort to determine the status of waste generation from division activities. The goal for this effort was to reduce or minimize the wastes identified as having the greatest impact on human health, the environment, and costs. Two broadmore » categories of division wastes were identified as solid/liquid wastes and those relating to energy use (primarily electricity and steam). This report presents information on the nonradioactive solid and liquid wastes generated by division activities. More specifically, the information presented was generated by teams of M&C staff members empowered by the Division Director to study specific waste streams.« less

Safety in laboratories: Indian scenario.

PubMed

Mustafa, Ajaz; Farooq, A Jan; Qadri, Gj; S A, Tabish

2008-07-01

Health and safety in clinical laboratories is becoming an increasingly important subject as a result of emergence of highly infectious diseases such as Hepatitis and HIV. A cross sectional study was carried out to study the safety measures being adopted in clinical laboratories of India. Heads of laboratories of teaching hospitals of India were subjected to a standardized, pretested questionnaire. Response rate was 44.8%. only 60% of laboratories had person in-charge of safety in laboratory. Seventy three percent of laboratories had safety education program regarding hazards. In 91% of laboratories staff is using protective clothing while working in laboratories. Hazardous material regulations are followed in 78% of laboratories. Regular health check ups are carried among laboratory staff in 43.4% of laboratories.Safety manual is available in 56.5% of laboratories. 73.9% of laboratories are equipped with fire extinguishers. Fume cupboards are provided in 34.7% of laboratories and they are regularly checked in 87.5% of these laboratories. In 78.26% of laboratories suitable measures are taken to minimize formation of aerosols.In 95.6% of laboratories waste is disposed off as per bio-medical waste management handling rules. Laboratory of one private medical college was accredited with NABL and safety parameters were better in that laboratory. Installing safety engineered devices apparently contributes to significant decrease in injuries in laboratories; laboratory safety has to be a part of overall quality assurance programme in hospitals. Accreditation has to be made necessary for all laboratories.

Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) Waste Integrated Performance and Safety Codes (IPSC) : FY10 development and integration.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Criscenti, Louise Jacqueline; Sassani, David Carl; Arguello, Jose Guadalupe, Jr.

2011-02-01

This report describes the progress in fiscal year 2010 in developing the Waste Integrated Performance and Safety Codes (IPSC) in support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) Campaign. The goal of the Waste IPSC is to develop an integrated suite of computational modeling and simulation capabilities to quantitatively assess the long-term performance of waste forms in the engineered and geologic environments of a radioactive waste storage or disposal system. The Waste IPSC will provide this simulation capability (1) for a range of disposal concepts, waste form types, engineered repository designs,more » and geologic settings, (2) for a range of time scales and distances, (3) with appropriate consideration of the inherent uncertainties, and (4) in accordance with robust verification, validation, and software quality requirements. Waste IPSC activities in fiscal year 2010 focused on specifying a challenge problem to demonstrate proof of concept, developing a verification and validation plan, and performing an initial gap analyses to identify candidate codes and tools to support the development and integration of the Waste IPSC. The current Waste IPSC strategy is to acquire and integrate the necessary Waste IPSC capabilities wherever feasible, and develop only those capabilities that cannot be acquired or suitably integrated, verified, or validated. This year-end progress report documents the FY10 status of acquisition, development, and integration of thermal-hydrologic-chemical-mechanical (THCM) code capabilities, frameworks, and enabling tools and infrastructure.« less

U.S. Space Station Freedom waste fluid disposal system with consideration of hydrazine waste gas injection thrusters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Winters, Brian A.

1990-01-01

The results are reported of a study of various methods for propulsively disposing of waste gases. The options considered include hydrazine waste gas injection, resistojets, and eutectic salt phase change heat beds. An overview is given of the waste gas disposal system and how hydrozine waste gas injector thruster is implemented within it. Thruster performance for various gases are given and comparisons with currently available thruster models are made. The impact of disposal on station propellant requirements and electrical power usage are addressed. Contamination effects, reliability and maintainability assessments, safety issues, and operational scenarios of the waste gas thruster and disposal system are considered.

Hospital waste management in developing countries: A mini review.

PubMed

Ali, Mustafa; Wang, Wenping; Chaudhry, Nawaz; Geng, Yong

2017-06-01

Health care activities can generate different kinds of hazardous wastes. Mismanagement of these wastes can result in environmental and occupational health risks. Developing countries are resource-constrained when it comes to safe management of hospital wastes. This study summarizes the main issues faced in hospital waste management in developing countries. A review of the existing literature suggests that regulations and legislations focusing on hospital waste management are recent accomplishments in many of these countries. Implementation of these rules varies from one hospital to another. Moreover, wide variations exist in waste generation rates within as well as across these countries. This is mainly attributable to a lack of an agreement on the definitions and the methodology among the researchers to measure such wastes. Furthermore, hospitals in these countries suffer from poor waste segregation, collection, storage, transportation and disposal practices, which can lead to occupational and environmental risks. Knowledge and awareness regarding proper waste management remain low in the absence of training for hospital staff. Moreover, hospital sanitary workers, and scavengers, operate without the provision of safety equipment or immunization. Unsegregated waste is illegally recycled, leading to further safety risks. Overall, hospital waste management in developing countries faces several challenges. Sustainable waste management practices can go a long way in reducing the harmful effects of hospital wastes.

40 CFR 258.10 - Airport safety.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Airport safety. 258.10 Section 258.10 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) SOLID WASTES CRITERIA FOR MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE LANDFILLS Location Restrictions § 258.10 Airport safety. (a) Owners or operators of new...

40 CFR 258.10 - Airport safety.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 25 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Airport safety. 258.10 Section 258.10 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) SOLID WASTES CRITERIA FOR MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE LANDFILLS Location Restrictions § 258.10 Airport safety. (a) Owners or operators of new...

Factors influencing household participation in solid waste management (Case study: Waste Bank Malang)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maryati, S.; Arifiani, N. F.; Humaira, A. N. S.; Putri, H. T.

2018-03-01

Solid waste management is very important measure in order to reduce the amount of waste. One of solid waste management form in Indonesia is waste banks. This kind of solid waste management required high level of participation of the community. The objective of this study is to explore factors influencing household participation in waste banks. Waste bank in Malang City (WBM) was selected as case study. Questionnaires distribution and investigation in WBM were conducted to identify problems of participation. Quantitative analysis was used to analyze the data. The research reveals that education, income, and knowledge about WBM have relationship with participation in WBM.

Safety evaluation for packaging transportation of equipment for tank 241-C-106 waste sluicing system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Calmus, D.B.

1994-08-25

A Waste Sluicing System (WSS) is scheduled for installation in nd waste storage tank 241-C-106 (106-C). The WSS will transfer high rating sludge from single shell tank 106-C to double shell waste tank 241-AY-102 (102-AY). Prior to installation of the WSS, a heel pump and a transfer pump will be removed from tank 106-C and an agitator pump will be removed from tank 102-AY. Special flexible receivers will be used to contain the pumps during removal from the tanks. After equipment removal, the flexible receivers will be placed in separate containers (packagings). The packaging and contents (packages) will be transferredmore » from the Tank Farms to the Central Waste Complex (CWC) for interim storage and then to T Plant for evaluation and processing for final disposition. Two sizes of packagings will be provided for transferring the equipment from the Tank Farms to the interim storage facility. The packagings will be designated as the WSSP-1 and WSSP-2 packagings throughout the remainder of this Safety Evaluation for Packaging (SEP). The WSSP-1 packagings will transport the heel and transfer pumps from 106-C and the WSSP-2 packaging will transport the agitator pump from 102-AY. The WSSP-1 and WSSP-2 packagings are similar except for the length.« less

Discussion on the methodology for determining food waste in household waste composition studies.

PubMed

Lebersorger, S; Schneider, F

2011-01-01

Food waste has become an increasingly discussed topic in recent years. However, there is little authoritative data on food waste quantities and composition and systematic and comparable data are missing. Household waste composition analyses, which are often carried out routinely at regular or irregular intervals, provide an opportunity for obtaining data about food waste at both local and regional levels. The results of prior waste composition studies are not really comparable due to the different classifications, definitions and methods used; in addition, these are mostly insufficiently described and not reproducible by a third party. The aim of this paper is to discuss a methodology for determining the proportion of food waste in household waste composition studies, by analysing specific problems and possible solutions. For that purpose, findings from the literature are analysed and the approach and results of a composition analysis of residual waste of a stratified sample (urban, rural area) are presented. The study suggests that in order to avoid a significant loss of information, waste should not be sieved before sorting and packed food waste should be classified into the relevant food waste category together with its packaging. The case study showed that the overall influence of the proportion of food packaging included in the food waste category, which amounted to only 8%, did not significantly influence the results and can therefore be disregarded. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A summary description of the flammable gas tank safety program

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, G.D.; Sherwood, D.J.

1994-10-01

Radioactive liquid waste may produce hydrogen as result of the interaction of gamma radiation and water. If the waste contains organic chelating agents, additional hydrogen as well as nitrous oxide and ammonia may be produced by thermal and radiolytic decomposition of these organics. Several high-level radioactive liquid waste storage tanks, located underground at the Hanford Site in Washington State, are on a Flammable Gas Watch List. Some contain waste that produces and retains gases until large quantities of gas are released rapidly to the tank vapor space. Tanks nearly-filled to capacity have relatively little vapor space; therefore if the wastemore » suddenly releases a large amount of hydrogen and nitrous oxide, a flammable gas mixture could result. The most notable example of a Hanford waste tank with a flammable gas problem is tank 241-SY-101. Upon occasion waste stored in this tank has released enough flammable gas to burn if an ignition source had been present inside of the tank. Several, other Hanford waste tanks exhibit similar behavior although to a lesser magnitude. Because this behavior was hot adequately-addressed in safety analysis reports for the Hanford Tank Farms, an unreviewed safety question was declared, and in 1990 the Flammable Gas Tank Safety Program was established to address this problem. The purposes of the program are a follows: (1) Provide safety documents to fill gaps in the safety analysis reports, and (2) Resolve the safety issue by acquiring knowledge about gas retention and release from radioactive liquid waste and developing mitigation technology. This document provides the general logic and work activities required to resolve the unreviewed safety question and the safety issue of flammable gas mixtures in radioactive liquid waste storage tanks.« less

Health, Safety, and Environment Division annual report 1989

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wade, C.

1992-01-01

The primary responsibility of the Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) Division at the Los Alamos National Laboratory is to provide comprehensive occupational health and safety programs, waste processing, and environmental protection. These activities are designed to protect the worker, the public, and the environment. Meeting the responsibilities involves many disciplines, including radiation protection, industrial hygiene, safety, occupational medicine, environmental science and engineering, analytical chemistry, epidemiology, and waste management. New and challenging health, safety, and environmental problems occasionally arise from the diverse research and development work of the Laboratory, and research programs in the HSE Division often stem from these appliedmore » needs. These programs continue but are also extended, as needed, to study specific problems for the Department of Energy. The result of these programs is to help develop better practices in occupational health and safety, radiation protection, and environmental sciences.« less

A safety analysis of food waste-derived animal feeds from three typical conversion techniques in China.

PubMed

Chen, Ting; Jin, Yiying; Shen, Dongsheng

2015-11-01

This study was based on the food waste to animal feed demonstration projects in China. A safety analysis of animal feeds from three typical treatment processes (i.e., fermentation, heat treatment, and coupled hydrothermal treatment and fermentation) was presented. The following factors are considered in this study: nutritive values characterized by organoleptic properties and general nutritional indices; the presence of bovine- and sheep-derived materials; microbiological indices for Salmonella, total coliform (TC), total aerobic plate counts (TAC), molds and yeast (MY), Staphylococcus Aureus (SA), and Listeria; chemical contaminant indices for hazardous trace elements such as Cr, Cd, and As; and nitrite and organic contaminants such as aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH). The present study reveals that the feeds from all three conversion processes showed balanced nutritional content and retained a certain feed value. The microbiological indices and the chemical contaminant indices for HCH, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), nitrite, and mercury all met pertinent feed standards; however, the presence of bovine- and sheep-derived materials and a few chemical contaminants such as Pb were close to or might exceed the legislation permitted values in animal feeding. From the view of treatment techniques, all feed retained part of the nutritional values of the food waste after the conversion processes. Controlled heat treatment can guarantee the inactivation of bacterial pathogens, but none of the three techniques can guarantee the absence of cattle- and sheep-derived materials and acceptable levels of certain contaminants. The results obtained in this research and the feedstuffs legislation related to animal feed indicated that food waste-derived feed could be considered an adequate alternative to be used in animal diets, while the feeding action should be changed with the different qualities of the products, such as restrictions on the application

Status of chemistry lab safety in Nepal.

PubMed

Kandel, Krishna Prasad; Neupane, Bhanu Bhakta; Giri, Basant

2017-01-01

Chemistry labs can become a dangerous environment for students as the lab exercises involve hazardous chemicals, glassware, and equipment. Approximately one hundred thousand students take chemistry laboratory classes annually in Nepal. We conducted a survey on chemical lab safety issues across Nepal. In this paper, we assess the safety policy and equipment, protocols and procedures followed, and waste disposal in chemistry teaching labs. Significant population of the respondents believed that there is no monitoring of the lab safety in their lab (p<0.001). Even though many labs do not allow food and beverages inside lab and have first aid kits, they lack some basic safety equipment. There is no institutional mechanism to dispose lab waste and chemical waste is disposed haphazardly. Majority of the respondents believed that the safety training should be a part of educational training (p = 0.001) and they would benefit from short course and/or workshop on lab safety (p<0.001).

Status of chemistry lab safety in Nepal

PubMed Central

Kandel, Krishna Prasad; Neupane, Bhanu Bhakta

2017-01-01

Chemistry labs can become a dangerous environment for students as the lab exercises involve hazardous chemicals, glassware, and equipment. Approximately one hundred thousand students take chemistry laboratory classes annually in Nepal. We conducted a survey on chemical lab safety issues across Nepal. In this paper, we assess the safety policy and equipment, protocols and procedures followed, and waste disposal in chemistry teaching labs. Significant population of the respondents believed that there is no monitoring of the lab safety in their lab (p<0.001). Even though many labs do not allow food and beverages inside lab and have first aid kits, they lack some basic safety equipment. There is no institutional mechanism to dispose lab waste and chemical waste is disposed haphazardly. Majority of the respondents believed that the safety training should be a part of educational training (p = 0.001) and they would benefit from short course and/or workshop on lab safety (p<0.001). PMID:28644869

Assessment of health-care waste management in a humanitarian crisis: A case study of the Gaza Strip.

PubMed

Caniato, Marco; Tudor, Terry Louis; Vaccari, Mentore

2016-12-01

Health-care waste management requires technical, financial and human resources, and it is a challenge for low- and middle income countries, while it is often neglected in protracted crisis or emergency situations. Indeed, when health, safety, security or wellbeing of a community is threatened, solid waste management usually receives limited attention. Using the Gaza Strip as the case study region, this manuscript reports on health-care waste management within the context of a humanitarian crisis. The study employed a range of methods including content analyses of policies and legislation, audits of waste arisings, field visits, stakeholder interviews and evaluation of treatment systems. The study estimated a production from clinics and hospitals of 683kg/day of hazardous waste in the Gaza Strip, while the total health-care waste production was 3357 kg/day. A number of challenges was identified including lack of clear definitions and regulations, limited accurate data on which to base decisions and strategies and poor coordination amongst key stakeholders. Hazardous and non-hazardous waste was partially segregated and treatment facilities hardly used, and 75% of the hazardous waste was left untreated. Recommendations for mitigating these challenges posed to patients, staff and the community in general are suggested. The outputs are particularly useful to support decision makers, and re-organize the system according to reliable data and sound assumptions. The methodology can be replicated in other humanitarian settings, also to other waste flows, and other sectors of environmental sanitation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Waste Handeling Building Conceptual Study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

G.W. Rowe

2000-11-06

The objective of the ''Waste Handling Building Conceptual Study'' is to develop proposed design requirements for the repository Waste Handling System in sufficient detail to allow the surface facility design to proceed to the License Application effort if the proposed requirements are approved by DOE. Proposed requirements were developed to further refine waste handling facility performance characteristics and design constraints with an emphasis on supporting modular construction, minimizing fuel inventory, and optimizing facility maintainability and dry handling operations. To meet this objective, this study attempts to provide an alternative design to the Site Recommendation design that is flexible, simple, reliable,more » and can be constructed in phases. The design concept will be input to the ''Modular Design/Construction and Operation Options Report'', which will address the overall program objectives and direction, including options and issues associated with transportation, the subsurface facility, and Total System Life Cycle Cost. This study (herein) is limited to the Waste Handling System and associated fuel staging system.« less

PNNL Supports Hanford Waste Treatment

ScienceCinema

None

2018-04-16

For more than 40 years, technical assistance from PNNL has supported the operations and processing of Hanford tank waste. Our expertise in tank waste chemistry, fluid dynamics and scaling, waste forms, and safety bases has helped to shape the site’s waste treatment baseline and solve operational challenges. The historical knowledge and unique scientific and technical expertise at PNNL are essential to the success of the Hanford mission.

Healthcare waste management status in Lagos State, Nigeria: a case study from selected healthcare facilities in Ikorodu and Lagos metropolis.

PubMed

Longe, Ezechiel O

2012-06-01

A survey of healthcare waste management practices and their implications for health and the environment was carried out. The study assessed waste management practices in 20 healthcare facilities ranging in capacity from 40 to 600 beds in Ikorodu and metropolitan Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria. The prevailing healthcare waste management status was analysed. Management issues on quantities and proportion of different constituents of waste, segregation, collection, handling, transportation, treatment and disposal methods were assessed. The waste generation averaged 0.631 kg bed(-1) day(-1) over the survey area. The waste stream from the healthcare facilities consisted of general waste (59.0%), infectious waste (29.7%), sharps and pathological (8.9%), chemical (1.45%) and others (0.95%). Sharps/pathological waste includes disposable syringes. In general, the waste materials were collected in a mixed form, transported and disposed of along with municipal solid waste with attendant risks to health and safety. Most facilities lacked appropriate treatment systems for a variety of reasons that included inadequate funding and little or no priority for healthcare waste management as well as a lack of professionally competent waste managers among healthcare providers. Hazards associated with healthcare waste management and shortcomings in the existing system were identified.

The disposal of nuclear waste in space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burns, R. E.

1978-01-01

The important problem of disposal of nuclear waste in space is addressed. A prior study proposed carrying only actinide wastes to space, but the present study assumes that all actinides and all fission products are to be carried to space. It is shown that nuclear waste in the calcine (oxide) form can be packaged in a container designed to provide thermal control, radiation shielding, mechanical containment, and an abort reentry thermal protection system. This package can be transported to orbit via the Space Shuttle. A second Space Shuttle delivers an oxygen-hydrogen orbit transfer vehicle to a rendezvous compatible orbit and the mated OTV and waste package are sent to the preferred destination. Preferred locations are either a lunar crater or a solar orbit. Shuttle traffic densities (which vary in time) are given and the safety of space disposal of wastes discussed.

Radioactive Waste Management in A Hospital

PubMed Central

Khan, Shoukat; Syed, AT; Ahmad, Reyaz; Rather, Tanveer A.; Ajaz, M; Jan, FA

2010-01-01

Most of the tertiary care hospitals use radioisotopes for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Safe disposal of the radioactive waste is a vital component of the overall management of the hospital waste. An important objective in radioactive waste management is to ensure that the radiation exposure to an individual (Public, Radiation worker, Patient) and the environment does not exceed the prescribed safe limits. Disposal of Radioactive waste in public domain is undertaken in accordance with the Atomic Energy (Safe disposal of radioactive waste) rules of 1987 promulgated by the Indian Central Government Atomic Energy Act 1962. Any prospective plan of a hospital that intends using radioisotopes for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures needs to have sufficient infrastructural and manpower resources to keep its ambient radiation levels within specified safe limits. Regular monitoring of hospital area and radiation workers is mandatory to assess the quality of radiation safety. Records should be maintained to identify the quality and quantity of radioactive waste generated and the mode of its disposal. Radiation Safety officer plays a key role in the waste disposal operations. PMID:21475524

Radioactive waste management in a hospital.

PubMed

Khan, Shoukat; Syed, At; Ahmad, Reyaz; Rather, Tanveer A; Ajaz, M; Jan, Fa

2010-01-01

Most of the tertiary care hospitals use radioisotopes for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Safe disposal of the radioactive waste is a vital component of the overall management of the hospital waste. An important objective in radioactive waste management is to ensure that the radiation exposure to an individual (Public, Radiation worker, Patient) and the environment does not exceed the prescribed safe limits. Disposal of Radioactive waste in public domain is undertaken in accordance with the Atomic Energy (Safe disposal of radioactive waste) rules of 1987 promulgated by the Indian Central Government Atomic Energy Act 1962. Any prospective plan of a hospital that intends using radioisotopes for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures needs to have sufficient infrastructural and manpower resources to keep its ambient radiation levels within specified safe limits. Regular monitoring of hospital area and radiation workers is mandatory to assess the quality of radiation safety. Records should be maintained to identify the quality and quantity of radioactive waste generated and the mode of its disposal. Radiation Safety officer plays a key role in the waste disposal operations.

School Chemistry Laboratory Safety Guide

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brundage, Patricia; Palassis, John

2006-01-01

The guide presents information about ordering, using, storing, and maintaining chemicals in the high school laboratory. The guide also provides information about chemical waste, safety and emergency equipment, assessing chemical hazards, common safety symbols and signs, and fundamental resources relating to chemical safety, such as Material…

Nuclear energy waste-space transportation and removal

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burns, R. E.

1975-01-01

A method for utilizing the decay heat of actinide wastes to power an electric thrust vehicle is proposed. The vehicle, launched by shuttle to earth orbit and to earth escape by a tug, obtains electrical power from the actinide waste heat by thermionic converters. The heavy gamma ray and neutron shielding which is necessary as a safety feature is removed in orbit and returned to earth for reuse. The problems associated with safety are dealt with in depth. A method for eliminating fission wastes via chemical propulsion is briefly discussed.

Twenty-Second National Conference on Campus Safety. Safety Monographs for Schools and Colleges. Monograph No. 35.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Green, Jack N., Ed.

The papers include discussions on: (1) training techniques for safety administrators; (2) materials and services from the National Safety Council; (3) fire safety measures; (4) high-rise buildings; (5) the role of the industrial hygienist in environmental health and safety; (6) chemical waste disposal facilities; (7) a chemistry department safety…

The effect of safety initiatives on safety performance: a longitudinal study.

PubMed

Hoonakker, Peter; Loushine, Todd; Carayon, Pascale; Kallman, James; Kapp, Andrew; Smith, Michael J

2005-07-01

Construction industry is one of the most dangerous industries, not only in the USA, but worldwide. In this longitudinal study we examined the effects of safety initiatives on the safety performance of construction companies. One of the measures commonly used in the USA to track a company's safety performance is the experience modification rate (EMR). The EMR is based on the company's safety records (injury claims) from the past three full years and is used to calculate the workers' compensation insurance premiums. In a longitudinal study, we studied the effects of safety efforts and initiatives on the EMR. The results show that safety initiatives and money spent on safety do improve safety performance, but only over time.

Study of status of safe injection practice and knowledge regarding injection safety among primary health care workers in Baglung district, western Nepal.

PubMed

Gyawali, Sudesh; Rathore, Devendra S; Kc, Bhuvan; Shankar, P Ravi

2013-01-03

Unsafe injection practices and injection overuse are widespread in developing countries harming the patient and inviting risks to the health care workers. In Nepal, there is a dearth of documented information about injection practices so the present study was carried out: a) to determine whether the selected government health facilities satisfy the conditions for safe injections in terms of staff training, availability of sterile injectable equipment and their proper disposal after use and b) to assess knowledge and attitudes of healthcare workers in these health care facilities with regard to injection safety. A descriptive cross-sectional mixed type (qualitative and quantitative) survey was carried out from 18th May to 16th June 2012. In-depth interviews with the in-charges were conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire. Observation of the health facilities using a structured observation tool was done. The data were analysed manually by summarizing, tabulating and presenting in various formats. The in-charges (eight males, two females) who participated in the study ranged in age from 30 to 50 years with a mean age of 37.8 years. Severe infection followed by pain was the most important cause for injection use with injection Gentamicin being most commonly prescribed. New single use (disposable) injections and auto-disable syringes were used to inject curative drugs and vaccines respectively. Sufficient safety boxes were also supplied to dispose the used syringe. All health care workers had received full course of Hepatitis B vaccine and were knowledgeable about at least one pathogen transmitted through unsafe injection practices. Injection safety management policy and waste disposal guideline was not available for viewing in any of the facilities. The office staff who disposed the bio-medical wastes did so without taking any safety measures. Moreover, none of these staff had received any formal training in waste management. Certain safe injection

Study of status of safe injection practice and knowledge regarding injection safety among primary health care workers in Baglung district, western Nepal

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Unsafe injection practices and injection overuse are widespread in developing countries harming the patient and inviting risks to the health care workers. In Nepal, there is a dearth of documented information about injection practices so the present study was carried out: a) to determine whether the selected government health facilities satisfy the conditions for safe injections in terms of staff training, availability of sterile injectable equipment and their proper disposal after use and b) to assess knowledge and attitudes of healthcare workers in these health care facilities with regard to injection safety. Methodology A descriptive cross-sectional mixed type (qualitative and quantitative) survey was carried out from 18th May to 16th June 2012. In-depth interviews with the in-charges were conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire. Observation of the health facilities using a structured observation tool was done. The data were analysed manually by summarizing, tabulating and presenting in various formats. Results The in-charges (eight males, two females) who participated in the study ranged in age from 30 to 50 years with a mean age of 37.8 years. Severe infection followed by pain was the most important cause for injection use with injection Gentamicin being most commonly prescribed. New single use (disposable) injections and auto-disable syringes were used to inject curative drugs and vaccines respectively. Sufficient safety boxes were also supplied to dispose the used syringe. All health care workers had received full course of Hepatitis B vaccine and were knowledgeable about at least one pathogen transmitted through unsafe injection practices. Injection safety management policy and waste disposal guideline was not available for viewing in any of the facilities. The office staff who disposed the bio-medical wastes did so without taking any safety measures. Moreover, none of these staff had received any formal training in waste management

Safety in the Chemical Laboratory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steere, Norman V.

1969-01-01

Presents the Safety Guide used in the Research Center at Monsanto Chemical Company (St. Louis). Topics include: general safety practices, safety glasses and shoes, respiratory protection, electrical wiring, solvent handling and waste disposal. Procedures are given for evacuating, "tagging out, and "locking out. Special mention is given to…

Preliminary safety evaluation of an aircraft impact on a near-surface radioactive waste repository

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lo Frano, R.; Forasassi, G.; Pugliese, G.

2013-07-01

The aircraft impact accident has become very significant in the design of a nuclear facilities, particularly, after the tragic September 2001 event, that raised the public concern about the potential damaging effects that the impact of a large civilian airplane could bring in safety relevant structures. The aim of this study is therefore to preliminarily evaluate the global response and the structural effects induced by the impact of a military or commercial airplane (actually considered as a 'beyond design basis' event) into a near surface radioactive waste (RWs) disposal facility. The safety evaluation was carried out according to the Internationalmore » safety and design guidelines and in agreement with the stress tests requirements for the security track. To achieve the purpose, a lay out and a scheme of a possible near surface repository, like for example those of the El Cabril one, were taken into account. In order to preliminarily perform a reliable analysis of such a large-scale structure and to determine the structural effects induced by such a types of impulsive loads, a realistic, but still operable, numerical model with suitable materials characteristics was implemented by means of FEM codes. In the carried out structural analyses, the RWs repository was considered a 'robust' target, due to its thicker walls and main constitutive materials (steel and reinforced concrete). In addition to adequately represent the dynamic response of repository under crashing, relevant physical phenomena (i.e. penetration, spalling, etc.) were simulated and analysed. The preliminary assessment of the effects induced by the dynamic/impulsive loads allowed generally to verify the residual strength capability of the repository considered. The obtained preliminary results highlighted a remarkable potential to withstand the impact of military/large commercial aircraft, even in presence of ongoing concrete progressive failure (some penetration and spalling of the concrete wall

Implementation of Recommendations from the One System Comparative Evaluation of the Hanford Tank Farms and Waste Treatment Plant Safety Bases

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Garrett, Richard L.; Niemi, Belinda J.; Paik, Ingle K.

2013-11-07

A Comparative Evaluation was conducted for One System Integrated Project Team to compare the safety bases for the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant Project (WTP) and Tank Operations Contract (TOC) (i.e., Tank Farms) by an Expert Review Team. The evaluation had an overarching purpose to facilitate effective integration between WTP and TOC safety bases. It was to provide One System management with an objective evaluation of identified differences in safety basis process requirements, guidance, direction, procedures, and products (including safety controls, key safety basis inputs and assumptions, and consequence calculation methodologies) between WTP and TOC. The evaluation identified 25more » recommendations (Opportunities for Integration). The resolution of these recommendations resulted in 16 implementation plans. The completion of these implementation plans will help ensure consistent safety bases for WTP and TOC along with consistent safety basis processes. procedures, and analyses. and should increase the likelihood of a successful startup of the WTP. This early integration will result in long-term cost savings and significant operational improvements. In addition, the implementation plans lead to the development of eight new safety analysis methodologies that can be used at other U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE) complex sites where URS Corporation is involved.« less

Cementitious waste option scoping study report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lee, A.E.; Taylor, D.D.

1998-02-01

A Settlement Agreement between the Department of Energy (DOE) and the State of Idaho mandates that all high-level radioactive waste (HLW) now stored at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) on the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) will be treated so that it is ready to be moved out of Idaho for disposal by a target date of 2035. This study investigates the nonseparations Cementitious Waste Option (CWO) as a means to achieve this goal. Under this option all liquid sodium-bearing waste (SBW) and existing HLW calcine would be recalcined with sucrose, grouted, canisterized, and interim stored asmore » a mixed-HLW for eventual preparation and shipment off-Site for disposal. The CWO waste would be transported to a Greater Confinement Disposal Facility (GCDF) located in the southwestern desert of the US on the Nevada Test Site (NTS). All transport preparation, shipment, and disposal facility activities are beyond the scope of this study. CWO waste processing, packaging, and interim storage would occur over a 5-year period between 2013 and 2017. Waste transport and disposal would occur during the same time period.« less

An Operational Safety and Health Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uhorchak, Robert E.

1983-01-01

Describes safety/health program activities at Research Triangle Institute (North Carolina). These include: radioisotope/radiation and hazardous chemical/carcinogen use, training, monitoring, disposal; chemical waste management; air monitoring and analysis; medical program; fire safety/training, including emergency planning; Occupational Safety and…

Nuclear Safety

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Silver, E G

This document is a review journal that covers significant developments in the field of nuclear safety. Its scope includes the analysis and control of hazards associated with nuclear energy, operations involving fissionable materials, and the products of nuclear fission and their effects on the environment. Primary emphasis is on safety in reactor design, construction, and operation; however, the safety aspects of the entire fuel cycle, including fuel fabrication, spent-fuel processing, nuclear waste disposal, handling of radioisotopes, and environmental effects of these operations, are also treated.

30 CFR 56.4104 - Combustible waste.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... properly, waste or rags containing flammable or combustible liquids that could create a fire hazard shall... Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR METAL AND NONMETAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS-SURFACE METAL AND NONMETAL MINES Fire Prevention and...

30 CFR 56.4104 - Combustible waste.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... properly, waste or rags containing flammable or combustible liquids that could create a fire hazard shall... Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR METAL AND NONMETAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS-SURFACE METAL AND NONMETAL MINES Fire Prevention and...

30 CFR 56.4104 - Combustible waste.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... properly, waste or rags containing flammable or combustible liquids that could create a fire hazard shall... Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR METAL AND NONMETAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS-SURFACE METAL AND NONMETAL MINES Fire Prevention and...

30 CFR 56.4104 - Combustible waste.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... properly, waste or rags containing flammable or combustible liquids that could create a fire hazard shall... Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR METAL AND NONMETAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS-SURFACE METAL AND NONMETAL MINES Fire Prevention and...

Toward a More Sustainable Trajectory for E-Waste Policy: A Review of a Decade of E-Waste Research in Accra, Ghana.

PubMed

Daum, Kurt; Stoler, Justin; Grant, Richard J

2017-01-29

Global flows of e-waste from the Global North to the Global South continue to damage local environments and harm human health. Weak e-waste regulations and limited use of safety measures for e-waste workers in Accra, Ghana, foster an exploitative environment within the industry, and pose health risks for those working and living near e-waste processing sites. This paper presents an integrated review of over 40 e-waste studies specific to Accra, with particular emphasis on the well-studied e-waste processing site in Agbogbloshie, and synthesizes the existing research base across interdisciplinary themes of human health, environmental health, globalization, trade and informalization, and public policy. Despite significant international attention to Accra's e-waste problem, loopholes within international environmental regulations and treaties provide few incentives and resources for Ghana to strengthen protections for human and environmental health. After a decade of e-waste research in Accra, the crisis continues to intensify; we present a renewed vision for sustainable e-waste policy reform in Ghana and beyond.

Toward a More Sustainable Trajectory for E-Waste Policy: A Review of a Decade of E-Waste Research in Accra, Ghana

PubMed Central

Daum, Kurt; Stoler, Justin; Grant, Richard J.

2017-01-01

Global flows of e-waste from the Global North to the Global South continue to damage local environments and harm human health. Weak e-waste regulations and limited use of safety measures for e-waste workers in Accra, Ghana, foster an exploitative environment within the industry, and pose health risks for those working and living near e-waste processing sites. This paper presents an integrated review of over 40 e-waste studies specific to Accra, with particular emphasis on the well-studied e-waste processing site in Agbogbloshie, and synthesizes the existing research base across interdisciplinary themes of human health, environmental health, globalization, trade and informalization, and public policy. Despite significant international attention to Accra’s e-waste problem, loopholes within international environmental regulations and treaties provide few incentives and resources for Ghana to strengthen protections for human and environmental health. After a decade of e-waste research in Accra, the crisis continues to intensify; we present a renewed vision for sustainable e-waste policy reform in Ghana and beyond. PMID:28146075

40 CFR 243.201 - Safety.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 25 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Safety. 243.201 Section 243.201 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) SOLID WASTES GUIDELINES FOR THE STORAGE... Procedures § 243.201 Safety. ...

40 CFR 243.201 - Safety.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Safety. 243.201 Section 243.201 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) SOLID WASTES GUIDELINES FOR THE STORAGE... Procedures § 243.201 Safety. ...

30 CFR 57.4104 - Combustible waste.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR METAL AND NONMETAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND METAL AND NONMETAL MINES Fire Prevention and... liquids, shall not accumulate in quantities that could create a fire hazard. (b) Waste or rags containing...

Hospital waste management status in Iran: a case study in the teaching hospitals of Iran University of Medical Sciences.

PubMed

Farzadkia, Mahdi; Moradi, Arash; Mohammadi, Mojtaba Shah; Jorfi, Sahand

2009-06-01

Hospital waste materials pose a wide variety of health and safety hazards for patients and healthcare workers. Many of hospitals in Iran have neither a satisfactory waste disposal system nor a waste management and disposal policy. The main objective of this research was to investigate the solid waste management in the eight teaching hospitals of Iran University of Medical Sciences. In this cross-sectional study, the main stages of hospital waste management including generation, separation, collection, storage, and disposal of waste materials were assessed in these hospitals, located in Tehran city. The measurement was conducted through a questionnaire and direct observation by researchers. The data obtained was converted to a quantitative measure to evaluate the different management components. The results showed that the waste generation rate was 2.5 to 3.01 kg bed(-1) day(-1), which included 85 to 90% of domestic waste and 10 to 15% of infectious waste. The lack of separation between hazardous and non-hazardous waste, an absence of the necessary rules and regulations applying to the collection of waste from hospital wards and on-site transport to a temporary storage location, a lack of proper waste treatment, and disposal of hospital waste along with municipal garbage, were the main findings. In order to improve the existing conditions, some extensive research to assess the present situation in the hospitals of Iran, the compilation of rules and establishment of standards and effective training for the personnel are actions that are recommended.

Safety evaluation for packaging (onsite) concrete-lined waste packaging

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Romano, T.

1997-09-25

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory developed a package to ship Type A, non-transuranic, fissile excepted quantities of liquid or solid radioactive material and radioactive mixed waste to the Central Waste Complex for storage on the Hanford Site.

Waste Disposal in the Laboratory: Teaching Responsibility and Safety.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Ralph O.

1983-01-01

Discusses the generation, collection, and disposal of hazardous and other wastes in the chemistry laboratory. Offers suggestions related to these three areas to provide a safe teaching environment, including minimizing amounts of reagents used (and potentially wasted) by scaling down experiments. (JN)

Small Column Ion Exchange Design and Safety Strategy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huff, T.; Rios-Armstrong, M.; Edwards, R.

2011-02-07

Small Column Ion Exchange (SCIX) is a transformational technology originally developed by the Department of Energy (DOE) Environmental Management (EM-30) office and is now being deployed at the Savannah River Site (SRS) to significantly increase overall salt processing capacity and accelerate the Liquid Waste System life-cycle. The process combines strontium and actinide removal using Monosodium Titanate (MST), Rotary Microfiltration, and cesium removal using Crystalline Silicotitanate (CST, specifically UOP IONSIV{reg_sign}IE-911 ion exchanger) to create a low level waste stream to be disposed in grout and a high level waste stream to be vitrified. The process also includes preparation of the streamsmore » for disposal, e.g., grinding of the loaded CST material. These waste processing components are technically mature and flowsheet integration studies are being performed including glass formulations studies, application specific thermal modeling, and mixing studies. The deployment program includes design and fabrication of the Rotary Microfilter (RMF) assembly, ion-exchange columns (IXCs), and grinder module, utilizing an integrated system safety design approach. The design concept is to install the process inside an existing waste tank, Tank 41H. The process consists of a feed pump with a set of four RMFs, two IXCs, a media grinder, three Submersible Mixer Pumps (SMPs), and all supporting infrastructure including media receipt and preparation facilities. The design addresses MST mixing to achieve the required strontium and actinide removal and to prevent future retrieval problems. CST achieves very high cesium loadings (up to 1,100 curies per gallon (Ci/gal) bed volume). The design addresses the hazards associated with this material including heat management (in column and in-tank), as detailed in the thermal modeling. The CST must be size reduced for compatibility with downstream processes. The design addresses material transport into and out of the grinder

Safety Checklist

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-05-01

given prior to issuing or renewing an OF 346? 13. Are operators’ DA Forms 348 reviewed annually for— a. Safety awards? b. Expiration of permits...2. Family safety. Are soldiers instructed to— _ a. Rid basements, closets, and attics of old rugs, papers, mattresses, broken furniture , and...place oily polishing rags or waste in covered metal cans? d. Store paint in tightly closed containers? e. Warn family members to never use gasoline

Nuclear waste

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1991-09-01

Radioactive waste is mounting at U.S. nuclear power plants at a rate of more than 2,000 metric tons a year. Pursuant to statute and anticipating that a geologic repository would be available in 1998, the Department of Energy (DOE) entered into disposal contracts with nuclear utilities. Now, however, DOE does not expect the repository to be ready before 2010. For this reason, DOE does not want to develop a facility for monitored retrievable storage (MRS) by 1998. This book is concerned about how best to store the waste until a repository is available, congressional requesters asked GAO to review themore » alternatives of continued storage at utilities' reactor sites or transferring waste to an MRS facility, GAO assessed the likelihood of an MRSA facility operating by 1998, legal implications if DOE is not able to take delivery of wastes in 1998, propriety of using the Nuclear Waste Fund-from which DOE's waste program costs are paid-to pay utilities for on-site storage capacity added after 1998, ability of utilities to store their waste on-site until a repository is operating, and relative costs and safety of the two storage alternatives.« less

Laboratory Safety and Chemical Hazards.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Journal of Chemical Education, 1983

1983-01-01

Toxicology/chemical hazards, safety policy, legal responsibilities, adequacy of ventilation, chemical storage, evaluating experimental hazards, waste disposal, and laws governing chemical safety were among topics discussed in 10 papers presented at the Seventh Biennial Conference on Chemical Education (Stillwater, Oklahoma 1982). Several topics…

Food Waste Composting Study from Makanan Ringan Mas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kadir, A. A.; Ismail, S. N. M.; Jamaludin, S. N.

2016-07-01

The poor management of municipal solid waste in Malaysia has worsened over the years especially on food waste. Food waste represents almost 60% of the total municipal solid waste disposed in the landfill. Composting is one of low cost alternative method to dispose the food waste. This study is conducted to compost the food waste generation in Makanan Ringan Mas, which is a medium scale industry in Parit Kuari Darat due to the lack knowledge and exposure of food waste recycling practice. The aim of this study is to identify the physical and chemical parameters of composting food waste from Makanan Ringan Mas. The physical parameters were tested for temperature and pH value and the chemical parameter are Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium. In this study, backyard composting was conducted with 6 reactors. Tapioca peel was used as fermentation liquid and soil and coconut grated were used as the fermentation bed. Backyard composting was conducted with six reactors. The overall results from the study showed that the temperature of the reactors were within the range which are from 30° to 50°C. The result of this study revealed that all the reactors which contain processed food waste tend to produce pH value within the range of 5 to 6 which can be categorized as slightly acidic. Meanwhile, the reactors which contained raw food waste tend to produce pH value within the range of 7 to 8 which can be categorized as neutral. The highest NPK obtained is from Reactor B that process only raw food waste. The average value of Nitrogen is 48540 mg/L, Phosphorus is 410 mg/L and Potassium is 1550 mg/L. From the comparison with common chemical fertilizer, it shows that NPK value from the composting are much lower than NPK of the common chemical fertilizer. However, comparison with NPK of organic fertilizer shown only slightly difference value in NPK.

29 CFR 1910.120 - Hazardous waste operations and emergency response.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 29 Labor 5 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Hazardous waste operations and emergency response. 1910.120 Section 1910.120 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS Hazardous Materials § 1910.120 Hazardous waste operations and emergency...

29 CFR 1910.120 - Hazardous waste operations and emergency response.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 29 Labor 5 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Hazardous waste operations and emergency response. 1910.120 Section 1910.120 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS Hazardous Materials § 1910.120 Hazardous waste operations and emergency...

29 CFR 1910.120 - Hazardous waste operations and emergency response.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 29 Labor 5 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Hazardous waste operations and emergency response. 1910.120 Section 1910.120 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS Hazardous Materials § 1910.120 Hazardous waste operations and emergency...

Influence of climate on landscape characteristics in safety assessments of repositories for radioactive wastes.

PubMed

Becker, J K; Lindborg, T; Thorne, M C

2014-12-01

In safety assessments of repositories for radioactive wastes, large spatial and temporal scales have to be considered when developing an approach to risk calculations. A wide range of different types of information may be required. Local to the site of interest, temperature and precipitation data may be used to determine the erosional regime (which may also be conditioned by the vegetation characteristics adopted, based both on climatic and other considerations). However, geomorphological changes may be governed by regional rather than local considerations, e.g. alteration of river base levels, river capture and drainage network reorganisation, or the progression of an ice sheet or valley glacier across the site. The regional climate is in turn governed by the global climate. In this work, a commentary is presented on the types of climate models that can be used to develop projections of climate change for use in post-closure radiological impact assessments of geological repositories for radioactive wastes. These models include both Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Models and Earth Models of Intermediate Complexity. The relevant outputs available from these models are identified and consideration is given to how these outputs may be used to inform projections of landscape development. Issues of spatial and temporal downscaling of climate model outputs to meet the requirements of local-scale landscape development modelling are also addressed. An example is given of how climate change and landscape development influence the radiological impact of radionuclides potentially released from the deep geological disposal facility for spent nuclear fuel that SKB (the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company) proposes to construct at Forsmark, Sweden. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improving safety culture through the health and safety organization: a case study.

PubMed

Nielsen, Kent J

2014-02-01

International research indicates that internal health and safety organizations (HSO) and health and safety committees (HSC) do not have the intended impact on companies' safety performance. The aim of this case study at an industrial plant was to test whether the HSO can improve company safety culture by creating more and better safety-related interactions both within the HSO and between HSO members and the shop-floor. A quasi-experimental single case study design based on action research with both quantitative and qualitative measures was used. Based on baseline mapping of safety culture and the efficiency of the HSO three developmental processes were started aimed at the HSC, the whole HSO, and the safety representatives, respectively. Results at follow-up indicated a marked improvement in HSO performance, interaction patterns concerning safety, safety culture indicators, and a changed trend in injury rates. These improvements are interpreted as cultural change because an organizational double-loop learning process leading to modification of the basic assumptions could be identified. The study provides evidence that the HSO can improve company safety culture by focusing on safety-related interactions. © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd and National Safety Council.

A review of mechanochemistry applications in waste management.

PubMed

Guo, Xiuying; Xiang, Dong; Duan, Guanghong; Mou, Peng

2010-01-01

Mechanochemistry is defined to describe the chemical and physicochemical transformation of substances during the aggregation caused by the mechanical energy. Mechanochemical technology has several advantages, such as simple process, ecological safety and the possibility of obtaining a product in the metastable state. It potentially has a prospective application in pollution remediation and waste management. Therefore, this paper aims to give an overall review of the mechanochemistry applications in waste management and the related mechanisms. Based on our study, the modification of fly ash and asbestos-containing wastes (ACWs) can be achieved by mechanochemical technology. Waste metal oxides can be transformed into easily recyclable sulfide by mechanochemical sulfidization. Besides, the waste plastics and rubbers, which are usually very difficult to be recycled, can also be recycled by mechanochemical technology.

Protecting contract workers: case study of the US Department of Energy's nuclear and chemical waste management.

PubMed

Gochfeld, Michael; Mohr, Sandra

2007-09-01

Increased reliance on subcontractors in all economic sectors is a serious occupational health and safety challenge. Short-term cost savings are offset by long-term liability. Hiring subcontractors brings specialized knowledge but also young, inexperienced, inadequately trained workers onto industrial and hazardous waste sites, which leads to increased rates of accidents and injuries. Reliable data on subcontractor occupational health and safety programs and performance are sparse. The US Department of Energy has an excellent safety culture on paper, but procurement practices and contract language deliver a mixed message--including some safety disincentives. Its biphasic safety outcome data are consistent with underreporting by some subcontractors and underachievement by others. These observations are relevant to the private and public sectors. Occupational health and safety should be viewed as an asset, not merely a cost.

Vermicomposting of winery wastes: a laboratory study.

PubMed

Nogales, Rogelio; Cifuentes, Celia; Benítez, Emilio

2005-01-01

In Mediterranean countries, millions of tons of wastes from viticulture and winery industries are produced every year. This study describes the ability of the earthworm Eisenia andrei to compost different winery wastes (spent grape marc, vinasse biosolids, lees cakes, and vine shoots) into valuable agricultural products. The evolution of earthworm biomass and enzyme activities was tracked for 16 weeks of vermicomposting, on a laboratory scale. Increases in earthworm biomass for all winery wastes proved lower than in manure. Changes in hydrolytic enzymes and overall microbial activities during the vermicomposting process indicated the biodegradation of the winery wastes. Vermicomposting improved the agronomic value of the winery wastes by reducing the C:N ratio, conductivity and phytotoxicity, while increasing the humic materials, nutrient contents, and pH in all cases. Thus, winery wastes show potential as raw substrates in vermicomposting, although further research is needed to evaluate the feasibility of such wastes in large-scale vermicomposting systems.

Office of River Protection Integrated Safety Management System Description

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

CLARK, D.L.

Revision O was never issued. Finding safe and environmentally sound methods of storage and disposal of 54 million gallons of highly radioactive waste contained in 177 underground tanks is the largest challenge of Hanford cleanup. TWRS was established in 1991 and continues to integrate all aspects of the treatment and management of the high-level radioactive waste tanks. In fiscal Year 1997, program objectives were advanced in a number of areas. RL TWRS refocused the program toward retrieving, treating, and immobilizing the tank wastes, while maintaining safety as first priority. Moving from a mode of storing the wastes to getting themore » waste out of the tanks will provide the greatest cleanup return on the investment and eliminate costly mortgage continuance. There were a number of safety-related achievements in FY1997. The first high priority safety issue was resolved with the removal of 16 tanks from the ''Wyden Watch List''. The list, brought forward by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, identified various Hanford safety issues needing attention. One of these issues was ferrocyanide, a chemical present in 24 tanks. Although ferrocyanide can ignite at high temperature, analysis found that the chemical has decomposed into harmless compounds and is no longer a concern.« less

Health and Safety Plan for Waste Area Grouping 6 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Environmental Restoration Program

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Van Hoesen, S.D.; Clark, C. Jr.; Burman, S.N.

1993-12-01

The Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc. (Energy Systems), policy is to provide a safe and healthful workplace for all employees and subcontractors. The accomplishment of this policy requires that operations at Waste Area Grouping (WAG) 6 at the Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory are guided by an overall plan and consistent proactive approach to safety and health (S&H) issues. The plan is written to utilize past experience and best management practices to minimize hazards to human health or the environment from events such as fires, explosions, falls, mechanical hazards, or any unplanned release of hazardous or radioactivemore » materials to air, soil, or surface water This plan explains additional site-specific health and safety requirements such as Site Specific Hazards Evaluation Addendums (SSHEAs) to the Site Safety and Health Plan which should be used in concert with this plan and existing established procedures.« less

U.S. Department of Energy Implementation of Chemical Evaluation Requirements for Transuranic Waste Disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moon, Alison; Barkley, Michelle; Poppiti, James

This report summarizes new controls designed to ensure that transuranic waste disposed at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) does not contain incompatible chemicals. These new controls include a Chemical Compatibility Evaluation, an evaluation of oxidizing chemicals, and a waste container assessment to ensure that waste is safe for disposal. These controls are included in the Chapter 18 of the Documented Safety Analysis for WIPP (1).

Management of Biomedical Waste: An Exploratory Study.

PubMed

Abhishek, K N; Suryavanshi, Harshal N; Sam, George; Chaithanya, K H; Punde, Prashant; Singh, S Swetha

2015-09-01

Dental operatories pose a threat due to the high chances of infection transmission both to the clinician and the patients. Hence, management of dental waste becomes utmost importance not only for the health benefit of the dentist himself, but also people who can come into contact with these wastes directly or indirectly. The present study was conducted to find out the management of biomedical waste in private dental practice among 3 districts of Karnataka. The study population included 186 private practitioners in 3 districts of Karnataka (Coorg, Mysore, Hassan), South India. A pre-tested self-administered questionnaire was distributed to assess the knowledge and practices regarding dental waste management. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize the results. Out of 186 study subjects, 71 (38%) were females and 115 (62%) were males. The maximum number of participants belonged to the age group of 28-33 years (29%). Undergraduate qualification was more (70%). 90 (48%) participants had an experience of 0-5 years. Chi-square analysis showed a highly significant association between participant who attended continuing dental education (CDE) program and their practice of dental waste management. Education with regards to waste management will help in enhancing practices regarding the same. In order to fill this vacuum CDE programs have to be conducted in pursuance to maintain health of the community.

HAZWOPER work plan and site safety and health plan for the Alpha characterization project at the solid waste storage area 4 bathtubbing trench at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1994-07-01

This work plan/site safety and health plan is for the alpha sampling project at the Solid Waste Storage Area 4 bathtubbing trench. The work will be conducted by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Environmental Sciences Division and associated ORNL environmental, safety, and health support groups. This activity will fall under the scope of 29 CFR 1910.120, Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER). The purpose of this document is to establish health and safety guidelines to be followed by all personnel involved in conducting work for this project. Work will be conducted in accordance with requirements as stipulated inmore » the ORNL HAZWOPER Program Manual and applicable ORNL; Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc.; and U.S. Department of Energy policies and procedures. The levels of protection and the procedures specified in this plan are based on the best information available from historical data and preliminary evaluations of the area. Therefore, these recommendations represent the minimum health and safety requirements to be observed by all personnel engaged in this project. Unforeseeable site conditions or changes in scope of work may warrant a reassessment of the stated protection levels and controls. All adjustments to the plan must have prior approval by the safety and health disciplines signing the original plan.« less

Low Activity Waste Pretreatment System Bench-Scale Testing: Supporting Integrated Testing and Facility Safety Analyses - 17171

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schonewill, Philip P.; Russell, Renee L.; Daniel, Richard C.

The Low Activity Waste Pretreatment System (LAWPS) is being designed to enable the direct feed of waste to the Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) Low Activity Waste (LAW) facility to be immobilized. Prior to construction of the LAWPS, pilot-scale integrated testing of the key unit operations (crossflow filtration, ion exchange using spherical resorcinol-formaldehyde (sRF) resin) will be conducted by a team led by Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) to increase the technology maturation level of the facility’s critical technology elements. As a part of this effort, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has conducted a series of bench-scalemore » (or engineering-scale) tests to perform two major objectives: (1) support pilot-scale integrated testing of the LAWPS by supplying information or performance data in advance of operating the pilot-scale facility; and (2) collect data needed to establish or confirm assumptions/approaches planned for implementation in the LAWPS safety basis. The first objective was focused in two technical areas: developing simulants that are representative of expected waste feed and can be produced at larger scales, and using these simulants in a bench-scale crossflow filter to establish expected solid-liquid separation performance. The crossflow filter was also used to observe the efficacy (with respect to filter production rate) of selected operational strategies. The second objective also included two technical areas: measuring the effect of sRF resin on hydrogen generation rate under irradiation, and demonstrating that the planned hydrogen management approach is effective and robust. The hydrogen management strategy involves fluidization of the sRF resin bed in the ion exchange columns and recirculating the liquid, a scenario that is planned for testing at full column height. The full height tests at PNNL also supported full-scale IX column testing conducted as part of the technology maturation

Analytical method of waste allocation in waste management systems: Concept, method and case study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bergeron, Francis C., E-mail: francis.b.c@videotron.ca

Waste is not a rejected item to dispose anymore but increasingly a secondary resource to exploit, influencing waste allocation among treatment operations in a waste management (WM) system. The aim of this methodological paper is to present a new method for the assessment of the WM system, the “analytical method of the waste allocation process” (AMWAP), based on the concept of the “waste allocation process” defined as the aggregation of all processes of apportioning waste among alternative waste treatment operations inside or outside the spatial borders of a WM system. AMWAP contains a conceptual framework and an analytical approach. Themore » conceptual framework includes, firstly, a descriptive model that focuses on the description and classification of the WM system. It includes, secondly, an explanatory model that serves to explain and to predict the operation of the WM system. The analytical approach consists of a step-by-step analysis for the empirical implementation of the conceptual framework. With its multiple purposes, AMWAP provides an innovative and objective modular method to analyse a WM system which may be integrated in the framework of impact assessment methods and environmental systems analysis tools. Its originality comes from the interdisciplinary analysis of the WAP and to develop the conceptual framework. AMWAP is applied in the framework of an illustrative case study on the household WM system of Geneva (Switzerland). It demonstrates that this method provides an in-depth and contextual knowledge of WM. - Highlights: • The study presents a new analytical method based on the waste allocation process. • The method provides an in-depth and contextual knowledge of the waste management system. • The paper provides a reproducible procedure for professionals, experts and academics. • It may be integrated into impact assessment or environmental system analysis tools. • An illustrative case study is provided based on household waste

Hospital waste management in Brazil: a case study.

PubMed

Mattoso, V D; Schalch, V

2001-12-01

The evaluation of the current definition, classification and quantification of hospital waste being carried out by hospitals in different countries is extremely important to avoid improper waste management practices. In this work, the waste management from a 400-bed Brazilian hospital which generates about 386 kg per day of hospital waste was studied. The generation rate of just over one kg per bed per day was considered small, although more than 50% of the waste from non-isolation wards consisted of food waste. It was also interesting to note that the highest generation rate per patient per day was found in private rooms and the lowest rate in the public ones. The waste practices used in this hospital are discussed in terms of current Brazilian legislation.

Sustainable waste management through end-of-waste criteria development.

PubMed

Zorpas, Antonis A

2016-04-01

The Waste Framework Directive 2000/98 (WFD) contains specific requirements to define end-of-waste criteria (EWC). The main goal of EWC is to remove and eliminate the administrative loads of waste legislation for safe and high-quality waste materials, thereby facilitating and assisting recycling. The target is to produce effective with high quality of recyclables materials, promoting product standardization and quality and safety assurance, and improving harmonization and legal certainty in the recyclable material markets. At the same time, those objectives aim to develop a plan in order to improve the development and wider use of environmental technologies, which reduce pressure on environment and at the same time address the three dimensions of the Lisbon strategy: growth, jobs and environment. This paper presents the importance of EWC, and the approach of setting EWC as EWC affect several management systems as well as sustainable and clean technologies.

OSHA standard for medical surveillance of hazardous waste workers.

PubMed

Melius, J M

1990-01-01

The increasing amount of work involving hazardous waste sites and the heavy involvement of the federal and state governments in this work have led to the gradual development of guidelines and standards providing for occupational safety and health programs for these sites. On March 6, 1989, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration published its final rule governing occupational safety and health matters at hazardous waste sites and emergency operations. This rule is currently scheduled to take effect on March 6, 1990. This chapter will briefly describe this regulation, particularly its medical surveillance requirements.

Evaluation of the effectiveness and safety of the thermo-treatment process to dispose of recombinant DNA waste from biological research laboratories.

PubMed

Li, Meng-Nan; Zheng, Guang-Hong; Wang, Lei; Xiao, Wei; Fu, Xiao-Hua; Le, Yi-Quan; Ren, Da-Ming

2009-01-01

The discharge of recombinant DNA waste from biological laboratories into the eco-system may be one of the pathways resulting in horizontal gene transfer or "gene pollution". Heating at 100 degrees C for 5-10 min is a common method for treating recombinant DNA waste in biological research laboratories in China. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness and the safety of the thermo-treatment method in the disposal of recombinant DNA waste. Quantitative PCR, plasmid transformation and electrophoresis technology were used to evaluate the decay/denaturation efficiency during the thermo-treatment process of recombinant plasmid, pET-28b. Results showed that prolonging thermo-treatment time could improve decay efficiency of the plasmid, and its decay half-life was 2.7-4.0 min during the thermo-treatment at 100 degrees C. However, after 30 min of thermo-treatment some transforming activity remained. Higher ionic strength could protect recombinant plasmid from decay during the treatment process. These results indicate that thermo-treatment at 100 degrees C cannot decay and inactivate pET-28b completely. In addition, preliminary results showed that thermo-treated recombinant plasmids were not degraded completely in a short period when they were discharged into an aquatic environment. This implies that when thermo-treated recombinant DNAs are discharged into the eco-system, they may have enough time to re-nature and transform, thus resulting in gene diffusion.

School Safety Study: Phase I.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arora, Alka

This report summarizes findings from a study concerned with Arizona school safety. The survey component highlights safety-related policy information across 300 schools; the interview component highlights school-safety perceptions of 64 staff across 16 schools. Various policies and programs that respond to internal and external threats to school…

Injection safety practices in a main referral hospital in Northeastern Nigeria.

PubMed

Gadzama, G B; Bawa, S B; Ajinoma, Z; Saidu, M M; Umar, A S

2014-01-01

No adherence of safe injection policies remains a major challenge, and, worldwide, annually, it leads to 21 million new hepatitis B cases and 260,000 HIV infection cases. This descriptive observational survey was conducted to determine the level of adherence to universal precaution for safe injection practices in the hospital. The study units were selected using a simple random sampling of injection services provider/phlebotomist in 27 units/wards of the hospital. The study instruments were observation checklist and interviewer administered questionnaires. EPI info (version 3.5.2) software was used for data entry and generation of descriptive statistics was done with units of analysis (units/wards) on injection safety practices of health workers, availability of logistics and supplies, and disposal methods. Only 33.3% of the units (95% CI, 16-54) had non-sharps infectious healthcare waste of any type inside containers specific for non-sharps infectious waste and 17 (77.3%) of the observed therapeutic injections were prepared on a clean, dedicated table or tray, where contamination of the equipment with blood, body fluids, or dirty swabs was unlikely. Absence of recapping of needles was observed in 11 (50.0%) units giving therapeutic injections. Only 7.4% of units surveyed had separate waste containers for infectious non-sharps. This study depicts poor knowledge and a practice of injection safety, inadequate injection safety supplies, and non-compliance to injection safety policy and guidelines.

Recycling the construction and demolition waste to produce polymer concrete

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamza, Mohammad T.; Hameed, Awham M., Dr.

2018-05-01

The sustainable management for solid wastes of the construction and demolition waste stimulates searching for safety applications for these wastes. The aim of this research is recycling of construction and demolition waste with some different types of polymeric resins to be used in manufacturing process of polymer mortar or polymer concrete, and studying their mechanical and physical properties, and also Specify how the values of compressive strength and the density are affected via the different parameters. In this research two types of construction and demolition waste were used as aggregates replacement (i.e. waste cement/concrete debris, and the waste blocks) while the two types of polymer resins (i.e. Unsaturated polyester and Epoxy) as cement replacements. The used weight percentages of the resins were changed within (1°, 20, 25 and 30) % to manufacture this polymer concrete.

[Microbiological Aspects of Radioactive Waste Storage].

PubMed

Safonov, A V; Gorbunova, O A; German, K E; Zakharova, E V; Tregubova, V E; Ershov, B G; Nazina, T N

2015-01-01

The article gives information about the microorganisms inhabiting in surface storages of solid radioactive waste and deep disposal sites of liquid radioactive waste. It was shown that intensification of microbial processes can lead to significant changes in the chemical composition and physical state of the radioactive waste. It was concluded that the biogeochemical processes can have both a positive effect on the safety of radioactive waste storages (immobilization of RW macrocomponents, a decreased migration ability of radionuclides) and a negative one (biogenic gas production in subterranean formations and destruction of cement matrix).

Protecting Contract Workers: Case Study of the US Department of Energy’s Nuclear and Chemical Waste Management

PubMed Central

Gochfeld, Michael; Mohr, Sandra

2007-01-01

Increased reliance on subcontractors in all economic sectors is a serious occupational health and safety challenge. Short-term cost savings are offset by long-term liability. Hiring subcontractors brings specialized knowledge but also young, inexperienced, inadequately trained workers onto industrial and hazardous waste sites, which leads to increased rates of accidents and injuries. Reliable data on subcontractor occupational health and safety programs and performance are sparse. The US Department of Energy has an excellent safety culture on paper, but procurement practices and contract language deliver a mixed message—including some safety disincentives. Its biphasic safety outcome data are consistent with underreporting by some subcontractors and underachievement by others. These observations are relevant to the private and public sectors. Occupational health and safety should be viewed as an asset, not merely a cost. PMID:17666686

Medical Waste Management in Community Health Centers.

PubMed

Tabrizi, Jafar Sadegh; Rezapour, Ramin; Saadati, Mohammad; Seifi, Samira; Amini, Behnam; Varmazyar, Farahnaz

2018-02-01

Non-standard management of medical waste leads to irreparable side effects. This issue is of double importance in health care centers in a city which are the most extensive system for providing Primary Health Care (PHC) across Iran cities. This study investigated the medical waste management standards observation in Tabriz community health care centers, northwestern Iran. In this triangulated cross-sectional study (qualitative-quantitative), data collecting tool was a valid checklist of waste management process developed based on Iranian medical waste management standards. The data were collected in 2015 through process observation and interviews with the health center's staff. The average rate of waste management standards observance in Tabriz community health centers, Tabriz, Iran was 29.8%. This case was 22.8% in dimension of management and training, 27.3% in separating and collecting, 31.2% in transport and temporary storage, and 42.9% in sterilization and disposal. Lack of principal separation of wastes, inappropriate collecting and disposal cycle of waste and disregarding safety tips (fertilizer device performance monitoring, microbial cultures and so on) were among the observed defects in health care centers supported by quantitative data. Medical waste management was not in a desirable situation in Tabriz community health centers. The expansion of community health centers in different regions and non-observance of standards could predispose to incidence the risks resulted from medical wastes. So it is necessary to adopt appropriate policies to promote waste management situation.

RELEASE OF DRIED RADIOACTIVE WASTE MATERIALS TECHNICAL BASIS DOCUMENT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

KOZLOWSKI, S.D.

2007-05-30

This technical basis document was developed to support RPP-23429, Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis for the Demonstration Bulk Vitrification System (PDSA) and RPP-23479, Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis for the Contact-Handled Transuranic Mixed (CH-TRUM) Waste Facility. The main document describes the risk binning process and the technical basis for assigning risk bins to the representative accidents involving the release of dried radioactive waste materials from the Demonstration Bulk Vitrification System (DBVS) and to the associated represented hazardous conditions. Appendices D through F provide the technical basis for assigning risk bins to the representative dried waste release accident and associated represented hazardous conditionsmore » for the Contact-Handled Transuranic Mixed (CH-TRUM) Waste Packaging Unit (WPU). The risk binning process uses an evaluation of the frequency and consequence of a given representative accident or represented hazardous condition to determine the need for safety structures, systems, and components (SSC) and technical safety requirement (TSR)-level controls. A representative accident or a represented hazardous condition is assigned to a risk bin based on the potential radiological and toxicological consequences to the public and the collocated worker. Note that the risk binning process is not applied to facility workers because credible hazardous conditions with the potential for significant facility worker consequences are considered for safety-significant SSCs and/or TSR-level controls regardless of their estimated frequency. The controls for protection of the facility workers are described in RPP-23429 and RPP-23479. Determination of the need for safety-class SSCs was performed in accordance with DOE-STD-3009-94, Preparation Guide for US. Department of Energy Nonreactor Nuclear Facility Documented Safety Analyses, as described below.« less

Analysis of nuclear waste disposal in space, phase 3. Volume 2: Technical report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rice, E. E.; Miller, N. E.; Yates, K. R.; Martin, W. E.; Friedlander, A. L.

1980-01-01

The options, reference definitions and/or requirements currently envisioned for the total nuclear waste disposal in space mission are summarized. The waste form evaluation and selection process is documented along with the physical characteristics of the iron nickel-base cermet matrix chosen for disposal of commercial and defense wastes. Safety aspects of radioisotope thermal generators, the general purpose heat source, and the Lewis Research Center concept for space disposal are assessed as well as the on-pad catastrophic accident environments for the uprated space shuttle and the heavy lift launch vehicle. The radionuclides that contribute most to long-term risk of terrestrial disposal were determined and the effects of resuspension of fallout particles from an accidental release of waste material were studied. Health effects are considered. Payload breakup and rescue technology are discussed as well as expected requirements for licensing, supporting research and technology, and safety testing.

Analysis of nuclear waste disposal in space, phase 3. Volume 2: Technical report

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rice, E. E.; Miller, N. E.; Yates, K. R.; Martin, W. E.; Friedlander, A. L.

1980-03-01

The options, reference definitions and/or requirements currently envisioned for the total nuclear waste disposal in space mission are summarized. The waste form evaluation and selection process is documented along with the physical characteristics of the iron nickel-base cermet matrix chosen for disposal of commercial and defense wastes. Safety aspects of radioisotope thermal generators, the general purpose heat source, and the Lewis Research Center concept for space disposal are assessed as well as the on-pad catastrophic accident environments for the uprated space shuttle and the heavy lift launch vehicle. The radionuclides that contribute most to long-term risk of terrestrial disposal were determined and the effects of resuspension of fallout particles from an accidental release of waste material were studied. Health effects are considered. Payload breakup and rescue technology are discussed as well as expected requirements for licensing, supporting research and technology, and safety testing.

Defense Remote Handled Transuranic Waste Cost/Schedule Optimization Study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pierce, G.D.; Beaulieu, D.H.; Wolaver, R.W.

1986-11-01

The purpose of this study is to provide the DOE information with which it can establish the most efficient program for the long management and disposal, in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), of remote handled (RH) transuranic (TRU) waste. To fulfill this purpose, a comprehensive review of waste characteristics, existing and projected waste inventories, processing and transportation options, and WIPP requirements was made. Cost differences between waste management alternatives were analyzed and compared to an established baseline. The result of this study is an information package that DOE can use as the basis for policy decisions. As part ofmore » this study, a comprehensive list of alternatives for each element of the baseline was developed and reviewed with the sites. The principle conclusions of the study follow. A single processing facility for RH TRU waste is both necessary and sufficient. The RH TRU processing facility should be located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Shielding of RH TRU to contact handled levels is not an economic alternative in general, but is an acceptable alternative for specific waste streams. Compaction is only cost effective at the ORNL processing facility, with a possible exception at Hanford for small compaction of paint cans of newly generated glovebox waste. It is more cost effective to ship certified waste to WIPP in 55-gal drums than in canisters, assuming a suitable drum cask becomes available. Some waste forms cannot be packaged in drums, a canister/shielded cask capability is also required. To achieve the desired disposal rate, the ORNL processing facility must be operational by 1996. Implementing the conclusions of this study can save approximately $110 million, compared to the baseline, in facility, transportation, and interim storage costs through the year 2013. 10 figs., 28 tabs.« less

Discharge of swine wastes risks water quality and food safety: Antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes from swine sources to the receiving environments.

PubMed

He, Liang-Ying; Ying, Guang-Guo; Liu, You-Sheng; Su, Hao-Chang; Chen, Jun; Liu, Shuang-Shuang; Zhao, Jian-Liang

2016-01-01

Swine feedlots are widely considered as a potential hotspot for promoting the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment. ARGs could enter the environment via discharge of animal wastes, thus resulting in contamination of soil, water, and food. We investigated the dissemination and diversification of 22 ARGs conferring resistance to sulfonamides, tetracyclines, chloramphenicols, and macrolides as well as the occurrence of 18 corresponding antibiotics from three swine feedlots to the receiving water, soil environments and vegetables. Most ARGs and antibiotics survived the on-farm waste treatment processes in the three swine farms. Elevated diversity of ARGs was observed in the receiving environments including river water and vegetable field soils when compared with respective controls. The variation of ARGs along the vertical soil profiles of vegetable fields indicated enrichment and migration of ARGs. Detection of various ARGs and antibiotic residues in vegetables fertilized by swine wastes could be of great concern to the general public. This research demonstrated the contribution of swine wastes to the occurrence and development of antibiotic resistance determinants in the receiving environments and potential risks to food safety and human health. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessment of heavy metals exposure, noise and thermal safety in the ambiance of a vacuum metallurgy separation system for recycling heavy metals from crushed e-wastes.

PubMed

Zhan, Lu; Xu, Zhenming

2014-12-01

Vacuum metallurgy separation (VMS) is a technically feasible method to recover Pb, Cd and other heavy metals from crushed e-wastes. To further determine the environmental impacts and safety of this method, heavy metals exposure, noise and thermal safety in the ambiance of a vacuum metallurgy separation system are evaluated in this article. The mass concentrations of total suspended particulate (TSP) and PM10 are 0.1503 and 0.0973 mg m(-3) near the facilities. The concentrations of Pb, Cd and Sn in TSP samples are 0.0104, 0.1283 and 0.0961 μg m(-3), respectively. Health risk assessments show that the hazard index of Pb is 3.25 × 10(-1) and that of Cd is 1.09 × 10(-1). Carcinogenic risk of Cd through inhalation is 1.08 × 10(-5). The values of the hazard index and risk indicate that Pb and Cd will not cause non-cancerous effects or carcinogenic risk on workers. The noise sources are mainly the mechanical vacuum pump and the water cooling pump. Both of them have the noise levels below 80 dB (A). The thermal safety assessment shows that the temperatures of the vacuum metallurgy separation system surface are all below 303 K after adopting the circulated water cooling and heat insulation measures. This study provides the environmental information of the vacuum metallurgy separation system, which is of assistance to promote the industrialisation of vacuum metallurgy separation for recovering heavy metals from e-wastes. © The Author(s) 2014.

Technique for Reduction of Environmental Pollution from Construction Wastes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bakaeva, N. V.; Klimenko, M. Y.

2017-11-01

The results of the research on the negative impact construction wastes have on the urban environment and construction ecological safety are described. The research results are based on the statistical data and indicators calculated with the use of environmental pollution assessment in the restoration system of urban buildings technical conditions. The technique for the reduction of environmental pollution from construction wastes is scientifically based on the analytic summary of scientific and practical results for ecological safety ensuring at major overhaul and current repairs (reconstruction) of the buildings and structures. It is also based on the practical application of the probability theory method, system analysis and disperse system theory. It is necessary to execute some stages implementing the developed technique to reduce environmental pollution from construction wastes. The stages include various steps starting from information collection to the system formation with optimum performance characteristics which are more resource saving and energy efficient for the accumulation of construction wastes from urban construction units. The following tasks are solved under certain studies: basic data collection about construction wastes accumulation; definition and comparison of technological combinations at each system functional stage intended for the reduction of construction wastes discharge into the environment; assessment criteria calculation of resource saving and energy efficiency; optimum working parameters of each implementation stage are created. The urban construction technique implementation shows that the resource saving criteria are from 55.22% to 88.84%; potential of construction wastes recycling is 450 million tons of construction damaged elements (parts).

Final environmental impact statement. Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1980-10-01

This volume contains the appendices for the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Alternative geologic environs are considered. Salt, crystalline rock, argillaceous rock, and tuff are discussed. Studies on alternate geologic regions for the siting of WIPP are reviewed. President Carter's message to Congress on the management of radioactive wastes and the findings and recommendations of the interagency review group on nuclear waste management are included. Selection criteria for the WIPP site including geologic, hydrologic, tectonic, physicochemical compatability, and socio-economic factors are presented. A description of the waste types and the waste processing procedures aremore » given. Methods used to calculate radiation doses from radionuclide releases during operation are presented. A complete description of the Los Medanos site, including archaeological and historic aspects is included. Environmental monitoring programs and long-term safety analysis program are described. (DMC)« less

Radioactive waste management and practice in Bangladesh

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mollah, A.S.; Rahman, M.M.

1993-12-31

A large amount of low- and medium-level radioactive wastes are being generated in different parts of Bangladesh. The solid wastes are being collected in steel containers and liquid wastes are collected in plastic carboys and drums. Gaseous Ar-41 is discharged into the atmosphere through the 25 m height stack under controlled conditions after proper monitoring. The solid radioactive wastes collected are approximately 5 m{sup 3} (1988--1992) with gross beta-gamma surface dose rates from 0.30 {micro}Sv/h to 250 {micro}Sv/h. The liquid radioactive wastes are approximately 200 liters (1988--1992) with gross-beta-gamma surface dose rates from 0.30 {micro}Sv/h to 1 mSv/h. The solidmore » and liquid wastes presently being collected are mostly short lived and low level and safely stored according to international safety codes of practice. Radioactive waste packages collected during the 5-yrs study totaled 16, representing a collective volume of {approximately} 7.5 m{sup 3}. The problem of management of radioactive waste in Bangladesh is not so serious at present because the wastes arising are small now. A computerized data base has been developed to document inventory of all radioactive waste arising in the country. The current practices of collection, handling, safe storage and management of the radioactive wastes are reported in this paper.« less

Thermal and enzymatic recovering of proteins from untanned leather waste.

PubMed

Bajza, Z; Vrucek, V

2001-01-01

The laboratory trials of a process to treat untanned leather waste to isolate valuable protein products are presented. In this comparative study, both thermal and enzymatic treatments of leather waste were performed. The enzymatic method utilizes commercially available alkaline protease at moderate temperatures and for short periods of time. The concentration of the enzyme was 500 units per gram of leather waste which makes the method cost-effective. Amino acid composition in the hydrolysate obtained by the enzyme hydrolysis of untanned leather waste is determined. Chemical and physical properties of protein powder products from untanned leather waste were evaluated by spectrophotometric and chromatographic methods and by use of electron microscope. The results of microbiological assays confirm that these products agree to food safety standards. This relatively simple treatment of untanned leather waste may provide a practical and economical solution to the disposal of potentially dangerous waste.

Constraints to healthcare waste treatment in low-income countries - a case study from Somaliland.

PubMed

Di Bella, Veronica; Ali, Mansoor; Vaccari, Mentore

2012-06-01

In low-income countries, healthcare waste is mixed with the municipal waste stream and rarely receives special attention. This paper presents the lessons learned from a pilot project targeted to improve healthcare waste management in Hargeisa (Somaliland). The interventions were carried out in three of the main hospitals in the city. Consideration was also given to improve the overall situation regarding the management of healthcare waste. Three De Montfort incinerators were built and training was provided to operators, waste workers and healthcare personnel. Although the incinerators were constructed in accordance with the required standards, major constraints were identified in the operational phase: irregular de-ashing procedures, misuse of safety equipment, and ineffective separation of healthcare waste were seen in this phase. The paper concludes that in other small hospitals in the developing world, such as those in Hargeisa, on-site incineration by use of low-cost, small-scale incinerators could be successfully applied as an interim solution, provided that an agreed and acceptable plan of operation and maintenance is in place and responsibilities for the management of the facility are clearly identified. Moreover, when replicating this experience in other settings even greater importance should be given to the technical capacity building of operators and pressure should be exercised on local administrations in order to control and supervise the whole management system.

Force Provider Solid Waste Characterization Study

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-08-01

energy converter (WEC) and/or composter . For a five-day period in June 2000, the solid waste generated by soldiers at the Force Provider Training Module...MATERIALS REDUCTION WASTE DISPOSAL MILITARY FACILITIES SANITARY ENGINEERING DISPOSAL FORCE PROVIDER FIELD FEEDING COMPOSTS WASTES GARBAGE WASTE RECYCLING...waste reduction through onsite waste-to-energy conversion and/or composting . The work was performed by Hughes Associates, Inc., 3610 Commerce

Safety monitoring of the FBG sensor in respect of radioactivity and deformation measurement of a silo structure for radioactive waste disposal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Ki-Soo; Cho, Seong-Kyu

2015-07-01

The FBG sensor has globally been commercialized in various fields that is actively applied in Korea as well. Especially it is widely used as a structural monitoring sensor in civil engineering and construction structures due to its advantages including electrical stability, chemical stability and multiplexing. This report aims to introduce safety inspection of the FBG sensor in respect of radioactivity which has been applied to a silo structure for radioactive waste disposal as an example.

Human factors in waste management - potential and reality

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thompson, J.S.

There is enormous potential for human factors contributions in the realm of waste management. The reality, however, is very different from the potential. This is particularly true for low-level and low-level mixed-waste management. The hazards are less severe; therefore, health and safety requirements (including human factors) are not as rigorous as for high-level waste. High-level waste management presents its own unique challenges and opportunities. Waste management is strongly driven by regulatory compliance. When regulations are flexible and open to interpretation and the environment is driven so strongly by regulatory compliance, standard practice is to drop {open_quotes}nice to have{close_quotes} features, likemore » a human factors program, to save money for complying with other requirements. The challenge is to convince decision makers that human factors can help make operations efficient and cost-effective, as well as improving safety and complying with regulations. A human factors program should not be viewed as competing with compliance efforts; in fact, it should complement them and provide additional cost-effective means of achieving compliance with other regulations. Achieving this synergy of human factors with ongoing waste management operations requires educating program and facility managers and other technical specialists about human factors and demonstrating its value {open_quotes}through the back door{close_quotes} on existing efforts. This paper describes ongoing projects at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in support of their waste management groups. It includes lessons learned from hazard and risk analyses, safety analysis reports, job and task analyses, operating procedure development, personnel qualification/certification program development, and facility- and job-specific training program and course development.« less

Waste management/waste certification plan for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Environmental Restoration Program

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Clark, C. Jr.; Hunt-Davenport, L.D.; Cofer, G.H.

1995-03-01

This Waste Management/Waste Certification (C) Plan, written for the Environmental Restoration (ER) Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), outlines the criteria and methodologies to be used in the management of waste generated during ORNL ER field activities. Other agreed upon methods may be used in the management of waste with consultation with ER and Waste Management Organization. The intent of this plan is to provide information for the minimization, handling, and disposal of waste generated by ER activities. This plan contains provisions for the safe and effective management of waste consistent with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency`s (EPA`s) guidance.more » Components of this plan have been designed to protect the environment and the health and safety of workers and the public. It, therefore, stresses that investigation derived waste (IDW) and other waste be managed to ensure that (1) all efforts be made to minimize the amount of waste generated; (2) costs associated with sampling storage, analysis, transportation, and disposal are minimized; (3) the potential for public and worker exposure is not increased; and (4) additional contaminated areas are not created.« less

United States import safety, environmental health, and food safety regulation in China.

PubMed

Nyambok, Edward O; Kastner, Justin J

2012-01-01

China boasts a rapidly growing economy and is a leading food exporter. Since China has dominated world export markets in food, electronics, and toys, many safety concerns about Chinese exports have emerged. For example, many countries have had problems with Chinese food products and food-processing ingredients. Factors behind food safety and environmental health problems in China include poor industrial waste management, the use of counterfeit agricultural inputs, inadequate training of farmers on good farm management practices, and weak food safety laws and poor enforcement. In the face of rising import safety problems, the U.S. is now requiring certification of products and foreign importers, pursuing providing incentives to importers who uphold good safety practices, and considering publicizing the names of certified importers.

Safety assessment methodology in management of spent sealed sources.

PubMed

Mahmoud, Narmine Salah

2005-02-14

Environmental hazards can be caused from radioactive waste after their disposal. It was therefore important that safety assessment methodologies be developed and established to study and estimate the possible hazards, and institute certain safety methodologies that lead and prevent the evolution of these hazards. Spent sealed sources are specific type of radioactive waste. According to IAEA definition, spent sealed sources are unused sources because of activity decay, damage, misuse, loss, or theft. Accidental exposure of humans from spent sealed sources can occur at the moment they become spent and before their disposal. Because of that reason, safety assessment methodologies were tailored to suit the management of spent sealed sources. To provide understanding and confidence of this study, validation analysis was undertaken by considering the scenario of an accident that occurred in Egypt, June 2000 (the Meet-Halfa accident from an iridium-192 source). The text of this work includes consideration related to the safety assessment approaches of spent sealed sources which constitutes assessment context, processes leading an active source to be spent, accident scenarios, mathematical models for dose calculations, and radiological consequences and regulatory criteria. The text also includes a validation study, which was carried out by evaluating a theoretical scenario compared to the real scenario of Meet-Halfa accident depending on the clinical assessment of affected individuals.

The role of waste bank partnership in efforts to decrease waste volume in urban: A case study at a waste bank in Kalibaru, Cilodong, Depok City

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suparmini; Junadi, Purnawan

2018-03-01

Waste Bank is a program that the government uses as one of the efforts to tackle the increasingly growing garbage day. The Waste Bank in Depok City serves as a collection of non-organic waste that still has economic value. This study attempts to examine the factors that make Depok City Waste Bank play its role today and its relationship with the community involved in the activities of the Waste Bank. Through qualitative approach with a case study, the authors make observations on the object and conduct in-depth interviews with some informants. This study found four factors that make a Waste Bank continues to play a role, namely the presence of leaders who are reliable (leadership), good management (management), incentive (incentive) and the involvement of partners (partnership). While the characteristics of community-based on the level of education, income levels also affect the community participation in receiving the Waste Bank as a form of waste management in the city of Depok.

Toxicity testing of leachate from waste landfills using medaka (Oryzias latipes) for monitoring environmental safety.

PubMed

Osaki, Kae; Kashiwada, Shosaku; Tatarazako, Norihisa; Ono, Yoshiro

2006-06-01

To investigate the environmental safety of waste disposal landfill sites and of land reclaimed from such sites, we evaluated the toxicity of leachate from these sites by a combination of bioassays in the Japanese killifish medaka Oryzias latipes. We tested for lethal toxicity in adult and larval medaka and for hatching inhibition of embryos from eggs. As biochemical evidence of the effects of leachate exposure, CYP1A (EROD activity) and vitellogenin (Vtg) were induced. We also bioassayed water-treated leachate and downstream river water. Leachate solution was lethal to larval and adult medaka. Embryo hatchability was inhibited, and abnormal hatching, spinal deformity and anisophthalmia occurred in embryos exposed to leachate solution. CYP1A was induced by exposure to leachate solution diluted to 1.0%, and EROD activity was significantly higher than in control. Vtg and unknown proteins were induced in the sera of male medaka exposed to the diluted leachate solution. Conventional water treatments worked effectively to remove toxic compounds but did not work well to remove element ions, including heavy metals. Treated leachate produced neither lethal toxicity nor hatching abnormalities during the exposure period. Fish toxicity tests for leachate would be useful for monitoring the environmental safety of landfill sites.

The University of Georgia Chemical Waste Disposal Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dreesen, David W.; Pohlman, Thomas J.

1980-01-01

Describes a university-wide program directed at reducing the improper storage and disposal of toxic chemical wastes from laboratories. Specific information is included on the implementation of a waste pick-up service, safety equipment, materials and methods for packaging, and costs of the program. (CS)

Heat Recovery Incinerator-Equipment Selection and Plant Layout for Safety, Human Engineering and Maintainability.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-10-01

16 4.2 Solid Waste Receiving and Storage Area ........................ 17 4.3 Equipment Location and Spacing...10OROS (Ccr4n-ifl. **,0d. d - -eet -.d tdonfffy by bltk -P-+) HRI, RAM, Human factors, HRI design, IRI safety, solid waste , energy recovery 10 AOSTNACT...health and safety hazards to individuals hand-sorting the conglomerate of solid waste , the potential of dangerous substances and inflammable or ex

[Nursing workers' perceptions regarding the handling of hazardous chemical waste].

PubMed

Costa, Taiza Florêncio; Felli, Vanda Elisa Andres; Baptista, Patrícia Campos Pavan

2012-12-01

The objectives of this study were to identify the perceptions of nursing workers regarding the handling of hazardous chemical waste at the University of São Paulo University Hospital (HU-USP), and develop a proposal to improve safety measures. This study used a qualitative approach and a convenience sample consisting of eighteen nursing workers. Data collection was performed through focal groups. Thematic analysis revealed four categories that gave evidence of training deficiencies in terms of the stages of handling waste. Difficulties that emerged included a lack of knowledge regarding exposure and its impact, the utilization of personal protective equipment versus collective protection, and suggestions regarding measures to be taken by the institution and workers for the safe handling of hazardous chemical waste. The present data allowed for recommending proposals regarding the safe management of hazardous chemical waste by the nursing staff.

Solid medical waste: a cross sectional study of household disposal practices and reported harm in Southern Ghana.

PubMed

Udofia, Emilia Asuquo; Gulis, Gabriel; Fobil, Julius

2017-05-18

Solid medical waste (SMW) in households is perceived to pose minimal risks to the public compared to SMW generated from healthcare facilities. While waste from healthcare facilities is subject to recommended safety measures to minimize risks to human health and the environment, similar waste in households is often untreated and co-mingled with household waste which ends up in landfills and open dumps in many African countries. In Ghana, the management of this potentially hazardous waste stream at household and community level has not been widely reported. The objective of this study was to investigate household disposal practices and harm resulting from SMW generated in households and the community. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey of 600 households was undertaken in Ga South Municipal Assembly in Accra, Ghana from mid-April to June, 2014. Factors investigated included socio-demographic characteristics, medication related practices, the belief that one is at risk of diseases associated with SMW, SMW disposal practices and reported harm associated with SMW at home and in the community. Eighty percent and 89% of respondents discarded unwanted medicines and sharps in household refuse bins respectively. A corresponding 23% and 35% of respondents discarded these items without a container. Harm from SMW in the household and in the community was reported by 5% and 3% of respondents respectively. Persons who believed they were at risk of diseases associated with SMW were nearly three times more likely to report harm in the household (OR 2.75, 95%CI 1.15-6.54). The belief that one can be harmed by diseases associated with SMW influenced reporting rates in the study area. Disposal practices suggest the presence of unwanted medicines and sharps in the household waste stream conferring on it hazardous properties. Given the low rates of harm reported, elimination of preventable harm might justify community intervention.

Criticality Safety Analysis on the Mixed Be, Nat-U, and C (Graphite) Reflectors in 55-Gallon Waste Drums and Their Equivalents for HWM Applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chou, P

The objective of this analysis is to develop and establish the technical basis on the criticality safety controls for the storage of mixed beryllium (Be), natural uranium (Nat-U), and carbon (C)/graphite reflectors in 55-gallon waste containers and/or their equivalents in Hazardous Waste Management (HWM) facilities. Based on the criticality safety limits and controls outlined in Section 3.0, the operations involving the use of mixed-reflector drums satisfy the double-contingency principle as required by DOE Order 420.1 and are therefore criticality safe. The mixed-reflector mass limit is 120 grams for each 55-gallon drum or its equivalent. a reflector waiver of 50 gramsmore » is allowed for Be, Nat-U, or C/graphite combined. The waived reflectors may be excluded from the reflector mass calculations when determining if a drum is compliant. The mixed-reflector drums are allowed to mix with the typical 55-gallon one-reflector drums with a Pu mass limit of 120 grams. The fissile mass limit for the mixed-reflector container is 65 grams of Pu equivalent each. The corresponding reflector mass limits are 300 grams of Be, and/or 100 kilograms of Nat-U, and/or 110 kilograms of C/graphite for each container. All other unaffected control parameters for the one-reflector containers remain in effect for the mixed-reflector drums. For instance, Superior moderators, such as TrimSol, Superla white mineral oil No. 9, paraffin, and polyethylene, are allowed in unlimited quantities. Hydrogenous materials with a hydrogen density greater than 0.133 gram/cc are not allowed. Also, an isolation separation of no less than 76.2 cm (30-inch) is required between a mixed array and any other array. Waste containers in the action of being transported are exempted from this 76.2-cm (30-inch) separation requirement. All deviations from the CS controls and mass limits listed in Section 3.0 will require individual criticality safety analyses on a case-by-case basis for each of them to confirm their

Going green by reducing red. New alternative medical waste treatment technologies.

PubMed

Zanoni, P

1998-01-01

The field of medical waste disposal is changing rapidly. Over the past decade, there has been increasing public health concern over health care's red bag waste. The health care industry must routinely contend with a complex set of regulations covering occupational safety, transportation and packaging, medical waste disposal management, and now environmental regulations for medical waste incinerators.

76 FR 37798 - DOE Response to Recommendation 2010-2 of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, Pulse Jet...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-28

... Safety Board, Pulse Jet Mixing at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant AGENCY: Department of... their Recommendation 2010-2, concerning Pulse Jet Mixing at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant... Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (Board) Recommendation 2010-2, Pulse Jet Mixing (PJM) at the Waste...

Safety assessment guidance in the International Atomic Energy Agency RADWASS Program

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vovk, I.F.; Seitz, R.R.

1995-12-31

The IAEA RADWASS programme is aimed at establishing a coherent and comprehensive set of principles and standards for the safe management of waste and formulating the guidelines necessary for their application. A large portion of this programme has been devoted to safety assessments for various waste management activities. Five Safety Guides are planned to be developed to provide general guidance to enable operators and regulators to develop necessary framework for safety assessment process in accordance with international recommendations. They cover predisposal, near surface disposal, geological disposal, uranium/thorium mining and milling waste, and decommissioning and environmental restoration. The Guide on safetymore » assessment for near surface disposal is at the most advanced stage of preparation. This draft Safety Guide contains guidance on description of the disposal system, development of a conceptual model, identification and description of relevant scenarios and pathways, consequence analysis, presentation of results and confidence building. The set of RADWASS publications is currently undergoing in-depth review to ensure a harmonized approach throughout the Safety Series.« less

MUNICIPAL WASTE COMBUSTION ASSESSMENT ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The report defines and characterizes types of medical waste, discusses the impacts of burning medical waste on combustor emissions, and outlines important handling and operating considerations. Facility-specific design, handling, and operating practiced are also discussed for municipal waste combustors (MWCs) that reportedly accept medical waste in the U.S., Europe, and Canada. nly very limited data are available on the emission impacts associated with the combustion of medical waste in MWGs. Especially lacking is information needed to fully evaluate the impacts on acid gas, dioxin, and metals emissions, as well as the design and operating requirements for complete destruction of solvents, cytotoxic chemicals, and pathogens. The EPA's Office of Air Quatity Planning and Standards is developing emission standards and guidelines for new and existing MWCs under Sections 111(b) and 111(d) of the Clean Air Act. In support of these regulatory development efforts, the Air and Energy Engineering Research Laboratory in EPA's Office of Research and Development has conducted an assessment to examine the incineration of medical waste in MWGs from an emission standpoint. Potential worker safety and health problems associated with handling of medical wastes and residues were also identified. information

40 CFR 258.10 - Airport safety.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 25 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Airport safety. 258.10 Section 258.10... SOLID WASTE LANDFILLS Location Restrictions § 258.10 Airport safety. (a) Owners or operators of new... meters) of any airport runway end used by turbojet aircraft or within 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) of any...

40 CFR 258.10 - Airport safety.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 26 2012-07-01 2011-07-01 true Airport safety. 258.10 Section 258.10... SOLID WASTE LANDFILLS Location Restrictions § 258.10 Airport safety. (a) Owners or operators of new... meters) of any airport runway end used by turbojet aircraft or within 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) of any...

40 CFR 258.10 - Airport safety.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 26 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Airport safety. 258.10 Section 258.10... SOLID WASTE LANDFILLS Location Restrictions § 258.10 Airport safety. (a) Owners or operators of new... meters) of any airport runway end used by turbojet aircraft or within 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) of any...

EDITORIAL: Safety aspects of fusion power plants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolbasov, B. N.

2007-07-01

importance for the fusion power plant research programmes. The objective of this Technical Meeting was to examine in an integrated way all the safety aspects anticipated to be relevant to the first fusion power plant prototype expected to become operational by the middle of the century, leading to the first generation of economically viable fusion power plants with attractive S&E features. After screening by guest editors and consideration by referees, 13 (out of 28) papers were accepted for publication. They are devoted to the following safety topics: power plant safety; fusion specific operational safety approaches; test blanket modules; accident analysis; tritium safety and inventories; decommissioning and waste. The paper `Main safety issues at the transition from ITER to fusion power plants' by W. Gulden et al (EU) highlights the differences between ITER and future fusion power plants with magnetic confinement (off-site dose acceptance criteria, consequences of accidents inside and outside the design basis, occupational radiation exposure, and waste management, including recycling and/or final disposal in repositories) on the basis of the most recent European fusion power plant conceptual study. Ongoing S&E studies within the US inertial fusion energy (IFE) community are focusing on two design concepts. These are the high average power laser (HAPL) programme for development of a dry-wall, laser-driven IFE power plant, and the Z-pinch IFE programme for the production of an economically-attractive power plant using high-yield Z-pinch-driven targets. The main safety issues related to these programmes are reviewed in the paper `Status of IFE safety and environmental activities in the US' by S. Reyes et al (USA). The authors propose future directions of research in the IFE S&E area. In the paper `Recent accomplishments and future directions in the US Fusion Safety & Environmental Program' D. Petti et al (USA) state that the US fusion programme has long recognized that the S

Alternatives Generation and Analysis for Heat Removal from High Level Waste Tanks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

WILLIS, W.L.

This document addresses the preferred combination of design and operational configurations to provide heat removal from high-level waste tanks during Phase 1 waste feed delivery to prevent the waste temperature from exceeding tank safety requirement limits. An interim decision for the preferred method to remove the heat from the high-level waste tanks during waste feed delivery operations is presented herein.

76 FR 13397 - DOE Response to Recommendation 2010-2 of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, Pulse Jet...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-11

... Safety Board, Pulse Jet Mixing at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant AGENCY: Department of..., concerning Pulse Jet Mixing at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant was published in the Federal... Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (Board) Recommendation 2010-2, Pulse Jet Mixing at the Waste...

10 CFR 72.70 - Safety analysis report updating.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Safety analysis report updating. 72.70 Section 72.70 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (CONTINUED) LICENSING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE INDEPENDENT STORAGE OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL, HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE, AND REACTOR-RELATED GREATER THAN CLASS C WASTE Records...

Analysis of alternatives for immobilized low activity waste disposal

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burbank, D.A.

This report presents a study of alternative disposal system architectures and implementation strategies to provide onsite near-surface disposal capacity to receive the immobilized low-activity waste produced by the private vendors. The analysis shows that a flexible unit strategy that provides a suite of design solutions tailored to the characteristics of the immobilized low-activity waste will provide a disposal system that best meets the program goals of reducing the environmental, health, and safety impacts; meeting the schedule milestones; and minimizing the life-cycle cost of the program.

Railway safety climate: a study on organizational development.

PubMed

Cheng, Yung-Hsiang

2017-09-07

The safety climate of an organization is considered a leading indicator of potential risk for railway organizations. This study adopts the perceptual measurement-individual attribute approach to investigate the safety climate of a railway organization. The railway safety climate attributes are evaluated from the perspective of railway system staff. We identify four safety climate dimensions from exploratory factor analysis, namely safety communication, safety training, safety management and subjectively evaluated safety performance. Analytical results indicate that the safety climate differs at vertical and horizontal organizational levels. This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence of the multilevel safety climate in a railway organization, presents possible causes of the differences under various cultural contexts and differentiates between safety climate scales for diverse workgroups within the railway organization. This information can be used to improve the safety sustainability of railway organizations and to conduct safety supervisions for the government.

Organic Waste Diversion in Columbia, South Carolina, Feasibility Study

EPA Science Inventory

The study found that a variety of methods are technically and economically feasible for diverting food wastes and providing a positive return on investment for the source. Potential barriers and considerations for food waste diversion are identified in the study. Given the E...

Safety features of subcritical fluid fueled systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bell, C.R.

1995-10-01

Accelerator-driven transmutation technology has been under study at Los Alamos for several years for application to nuclear waste treatment, tritium production, energy generation, and recently, to the disposition of excess weapons plutonium. Studies and evaluations performed to date at Los Alamos have led to a current focus on a fluid-fuel, fission system operating in a neutron source-supported subcritical mode, using molten salt reactor technology and accelerator-driven proton-neutron spallation. In this paper, the safety features and characteristics of such systems are explored from the perspective of the fundamental nuclear safety objectives that any reactor-type system should address. This exploration is qualitativemore » in nature and uses current vintage solid-fueled reactors as a baseline for comparison. Based on the safety perspectives presented, such systems should be capable of meeting the fundamental nuclear safety objectives. In addition, they should be able to provide the safety robustness desired for advanced reactors. However, the manner in which safety objectives and robustness are achieved is very different from that associated with conventional reactors. Also, there are a number of safety design and operational challenges that will have to be addressed for the safety potential of such systems to be credible.« less

Survey of safety practices among hospital laboratories in Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia.

PubMed

Sewunet, Tsegaye; Kebede, Wakjira; Wondafrash, Beyene; Workalemau, Bereket; Abebe, Gemeda

2014-10-01

Unsafe working practices, working environments, disposable waste products, and chemicals in clinical laboratories contribute to infectious and non-infectious hazards. Staffs, the community, and patients are less safe. Furthermore, such practices compromise the quality of laboratory services. We conducted a study to describe safety practices in public hospital laboratories of Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Randomly selected ten public hospital laboratories in Oromia Regional State were studied from Oct 2011- Feb 2012. Self-administered structured questionnaire and observation checklists were used for data collection. The respondents were heads of the laboratories, senior technicians, and safety officers. The questionnaire addressed biosafety label, microbial hazards, chemical hazards, physical/mechanical hazards, personal protective equipment, first aid kits and waste disposal system. The data was analyzed using descriptive analysis with SPSS version16 statistical software. All of the respondents reported none of the hospital laboratories were labeled with the appropriate safety label and safety symbols. These respondents also reported they may contain organisms grouped under risk group IV in the absence of microbiological safety cabinets. Overall, the respondents reported that there were poor safety regulations or standards in their laboratories. There were higher risks of microbial, chemical and physical/mechanical hazards. Laboratory safety in public hospitals of Oromia Regional State is below the standard. The laboratory workers are at high risk of combined physical, chemical and microbial hazards. Prompt recognition of the problem and immediate action is mandatory to ensure safe working environment in health laboratories.

Property-close source separation of hazardous waste and waste electrical and electronic equipment--a Swedish case study.

PubMed

Bernstad, Anna; la Cour Jansen, Jes; Aspegren, Henrik

2011-03-01

Through an agreement with EEE producers, Swedish municipalities are responsible for collection of hazardous waste and waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). In most Swedish municipalities, collection of these waste fractions is concentrated to waste recycling centres where households can source-separate and deposit hazardous waste and WEEE free of charge. However, the centres are often located on the outskirts of city centres and cars are needed in order to use the facilities in most cases. A full-scale experiment was performed in a residential area in southern Sweden to evaluate effects of a system for property-close source separation of hazardous waste and WEEE. After the system was introduced, results show a clear reduction in the amount of hazardous waste and WEEE disposed of incorrectly amongst residual waste or dry recyclables. The systems resulted in a source separation ratio of 70 wt% for hazardous waste and 76 wt% in the case of WEEE. Results show that households in the study area were willing to increase source separation of hazardous waste and WEEE when accessibility was improved and that this and similar collection systems can play an important role in building up increasingly sustainable solid waste management systems. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A pilot survey of the U.S. medical waste industry to determine training needs for safely handling highly infectious waste.

PubMed

Le, Aurora B; Hoboy, Selin; Germain, Anne; Miller, Hal; Thompson, Richard; Herstein, Jocelyn J; Jelden, Katelyn C; Beam, Elizabeth L; Gibbs, Shawn G; Lowe, John J

2018-02-01

The recent Ebola outbreak led to the development of Ebola virus disease (EVD) best practices in clinical settings. However, after the care of EVD patients, proper medical waste management and disposal was identified as a crucial component to containing the virus. Category A waste-contaminated with EVD and other highly infectious pathogens-is strictly regulated by governmental agencies, and led to only several facilities willing to accept the waste. A pilot survey was administered to determine if U.S. medical waste facilities are prepared to handle or transport category A waste, and to determine waste workers' current extent of training to handle highly infectious waste. Sixty-eight percent of survey respondents indicated they had not determined if their facility would accept category A waste. Of those that had acquired a special permit, 67% had yet to modify their permit since the EVD outbreak. This pilot survey underscores gaps in the medical waste industry to handle and respond to category A waste. Furthermore, this study affirms reports a limited number of processing facilities are capable or willing to accept category A waste. Developing the proper management of infectious disease materials is essential to close the gaps identified so that states and governmental entities can act accordingly based on the regulations and guidance developed, and to ensure public safety. Copyright © 2018 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Development of anti-slip sustainable tiles from agricultural waste

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zulkefli, Zainordin Firdaus; Zainol, Mohd Remy Rozainy Mohd Arif; Osman, Norhayati

2017-04-01

In general of 80% the human activities is located in the building. Buildings constructed should be in line with full functions and optimum safety features. Aspects to be emphasized is the slip on the floor of the building. The selection of tiles must have anti-slip characteristics and achieve standard strength stress. This study is conducted to develop anti-slip tiles modification using agricultural waste. The material used is agricultural waste such rice husks, palm fibre and saw dusk mixed into the clay and then baked at a temperature of 900-1185 C °. Agricultural waste mixture ratio is 5%, 10% and 15%. The samples of tiles are produced for experiments. The results of agricultural waste tiles show that the strength is higher than standard strength, the water absorption less than standard tiles and pendulum value test is exceeds 36.

Risk assessment and quality improvement of liquid waste management in Taiwan University chemical laboratories.

PubMed

Ho, Chao-Chung; Chen, Ming-Shu

2018-01-01

The policy of establishing new universities across Taiwan has led to an increase in the number of universities, and many schools have constructed new laboratories to meet students' academic needs. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of laboratory accidents from the liquid waste in universities. Therefore, how to build a safety system for laboratory liquid waste disposal has become an important issue in the environmental protection, safety, and hygiene of all universities. This study identifies the risk factors of liquid waste disposal and presents an agenda for practices to laboratory managers. An expert questionnaire is adopted to probe into the risk priority procedures of liquid waste disposal; then, the fuzzy theory-based FMEA method and the traditional FMEA method are employed to analyze and improve the procedures for liquid waste disposal. According to the research results, the fuzzy FMEA method is the most effective, and the top 10 potential disabling factors are prioritized for improvement according to the risk priority number (RNP), including "Unclear classification", "Gathering liquid waste without a funnel or a drain pan", "Lack of a clearance and transport contract", "Liquid waste spill during delivery", "Spill over", "Decentralized storage", "Calculating weight in the wrong way", "Compatibility between the container material and the liquid waste", "Lack of dumping and disposal tools", and "Lack of a clear labels for liquid waste containers". After tracking improvements, the overall improvement rate rose to 60.2%. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Safety in the Chemical Laboratory: Contracts to Dispose of Laboratory Waste.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fischer, Kenneth E.

1985-01-01

Presents a sample contract for disposing of hazardous wastes in an environmentally sound, timely manner in accordance with all federal, state, and local requirements. Addresses situations where hazardous waste must be disposed of outside the laboratory and where alternate disposal methods are not feasible. (JN)

Waste collection subsystem study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1984-01-01

Practical ways were explored of improving waste compaction and of providing rapid turnaround between flights at essentially no cost for the space shuttle waste collection subsystem commode. Because of the possible application of a fully developed shuttle commode to the space station, means of providing waste treatment without overboard venting were also considered. Three basic schemes for compaction and rapid turnaround, each fully capable of meeting the objectives, were explored in sufficient depth to bring out the characteristic advantages and disadvantages of each. Tradeoff comparisons were very close between leading contenders and efforts were made to refine the design concepts sufficiently to justify a selection. The concept selected makes use of a sealed canister containing wastes that have been forcibly compacted, which is removable in flight. No selection was made between three superior non-venting treatment methods owing to the need for experimental evaluations of the processes involved. A system requirements definition document has been prepared to define the task for a test embodiment of the selected concept.

Medical waste to energy: experimental study.

PubMed

Arcuri, C; Luciani, F; Piva, P; Bartuli, F N; Ottria, L; Mecheri, B; Licoccia, S

2013-04-01

Although waste is traditionally assessed as a pollutant which needs to be reduced or lessened, its management is certainly necessary. Nowadays, biological fuel cells, through the direct conversion of organic matter to electricity using biocatalysts, represent a technology able to produce sustainable energy by means of waste treatment. This study aims to propose a mean to generate energy from blood and saliva, that are common risk-infectious medical waste. Material employed (purchased by Sigma-Aldrich) were: Glucose oxidase (GOx), Nafion perfluorinated resin solution at 5% in a mixture of lower aliphatic alcohols and water, Polyethylene oxide. Stock solutions of D (+) glucose were prepared in a 0.1 M phosphate buffer solution and stored at 4 °C for at least 24 h before use. Carbon cloth electrode ELAT HT 140 E-W with a platinum loading of 5 gm-2 was purchased by E-Tek. Electrospun Nafion fibers were obtained as follows. Scanning electron microscopy was used to characterize the electrode morphologies. In order to develop an effective immobilization strategy of GOx on the electrode surface, Nafion fibers (a fully fluorinated ion conducting polymer used as a membrane material in enzymatic fuel cells - EFC) were selected as immobilizing polymer matrix. In this work, exploiting the nafion fibers capability of being able to cathalize Gox activity, we have tried to produce an enzymatic fuel cell which could produce energy from the blood and the saliva within medical-dental waste. Medical waste refers to all those materials produced by the interaction among doctor and patient, such as blood and saliva. During our research we will try to complete an EFC prototype able to produce energy from blood and saliva inside the risk-infectious medical waste in order to contribute to the energy requirements of a consulting room.

Extending Safety Culture Development through Communication - 12366

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sneve, M.K.; Kiselev, M.; Shandala, N.K.

2012-07-01

The Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority has been implementing a regulatory support program in the Russian Federation for over 10 years, as part of the Norwegian government's Plan of Action for enhancing nuclear and radiation safety in northwest Russia. The overall long-term objective is the enhancement of safety culture. The project outputs have included appropriate regulatory threat assessments, to determine the hazardous activities which are most in need of enhanced regulatory supervision; and development of the norms, standards and regulatory procedures, necessary to address the often abnormal conditions at nuclear legacy sites. Project outputs have been prepared and subsequently confirmed asmore » official regulatory documents of the Russian Federation. The continuing program of work focuses on practical application of the enhanced regulatory framework as applied to legacy sites, including safe management of radioactive wastes arising in the process of site remediation. One of the lessons learnt from this practical application is the importance of effective communication at all levels: - between managers and shop workers; - between different operators - e.g. waste producers and waste disposal organisations; - between operators and regulators; - between nuclear safety regulators, radiation protection regulators and other pollution and safety regulators; - between scientists, policy makers and wider stakeholders; and - between all of those mentioned above. A key message from this work is that it is not just an issue of risk communication; rather all aspects of communication can contribute to safety culture enhancement to support effective and efficient risk management, including the role of regulatory supervision. (authors)« less

[PRIORITY TECHNOLOGIES OF THE MEDICAL WASTE DISPOSAL SYSTEM].

PubMed

Samutin, N M; Butorina, N N; Starodubova, N Yu; Korneychuk, S S; Ustinov, A K

2015-01-01

The annual production of waste in health care institutions (HCI) tends to increase because of the growth of health care provision for population. Among the many criteria for selecting the optimal treatment technologies HCI is important to provide epidemiological and chemical safety of the final products. Environmentally friendly method of thermal disinfection of medical waste may be sterilizators of medical wastes intended for hospitals, medical centers, laboratories and other health care facilities that have small and medium volume of processing of all types of waste Class B and C. The most optimal method of centralized disposal of medical waste is a thermal processing method of the collected material.

Simulating Radionuclide Migrations of Low-level Wastes in Nearshore Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, C. C.; Li, M. H.; Chen, J. S.; Yeh, G. T.

2016-12-01

Tunnel disposal into nearshore mountains was tentatively selected as one of final disposal sites for low-level wastes in Taiwan. Safety assessment on radionuclide migrations in far-filed may involve geosphere processes under coastal environments and into nearshore ocean. In this study the 3-D HYDROFEOCHE5.6 numerical model was used to perform simulations of groundwater flow and radionuclide transport with decay chains. Domain of interest on the surface includes nearby watersheds delineated by digital elevation models and nearshore seabed. As deep as 800 m below the surface and 400 m below sea bed were considered for simulations. The disposal site was located at 200m below the surface. Release rates of radionuclides from near-field was estimated by analytical solutions of radionuclide diffusion with decay out of engineered barriers. Far-field safety assessments were performed starting from the release of radionuclides out of engineered barriers to a time scale of 10,000 years. Sensitivity analyses of geosphere and transport parameters were performed to improve our understanding of safety on final disposal of low-level waste in nearshore environments.

Attitudes of Preservice Social Studies Teachers towards Solid Wastes and Recycle

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karatekin, Kadir; Merey, Zihni

2015-01-01

The objective of this study is to determine the attitudes of preservice social studies-teachers towards solid wastes and recycle. This study used the screening model, In order to determine the attitudes of preservice teachers towards solid wastes and recycle, we used the "Scale for the Attitudes of Preservice Teachers towards Solid Wastes and…

Pacific Northwest Laboratory annual report for 1980 to the DOE Assistant Secretary for Environment. Part 5. Environmental assessment, control, health and safety

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Baalman, R.W.; Hays, I.D.

1981-02-01

Pacific Northwest Laboratory's (PNL) 1980 annual report to the DOE Assistant Secretary for Environment describes research in environment, health, and safety conducted during fiscal year 1980. Part 5 includes technology assessments for natural gas, enhanced oil recovery, oil shale, uranium mining, magnetic fusion energy, solar energy, uranium enrichment and industrial energy utilization; regional analysis studies of environmental transport and community impacts; environmental and safety engineering for LNG, oil spills, LPG, shale oil waste waters, geothermal liquid waste disposal, compressed air energy storage, and nuclear/fusion fuel cycles; operational and environmental safety studies of decommissioning, environmental monitoring, personnel dosimetry, and analysis ofmore » criticality safety; health physics studies; and epidemiological studies. Also included are an author index, organization of PNL charts and distribution lists of the annual report, along with lists of presentations and publications. (DLS)« less

[Substantiation of a complex of radiation-hygienic approaches to the management of very low-level waste].

PubMed

Korenkov, I P; Lashchenova, T N; Shandala, N K

2015-01-01

In the article there are presented materials on radiation-hygienic approaches to the treatment of very low level radioactive waste (VLLW) and industrial waste containing radionuclides. There is done detailed information on radiation-hygienic principles and criteria for the assurance ofradiation safety in the collection, transportation, storage and processing of VLLW as a category of radioactive waste.. Particular attention is paid to the problem of designing VLLW landfill site choice, system of radiation monitoring in operation and decommissioning of the landfill. There are presented data about the criteria for the release of VLLW buried at the site, from regulatory control. Also there are considered in detail the radiation-hygienic requirements for radiation safety of industrial waste containing radionuclides for which there is assumed unlimited and limited use of solid materials in economic activity, based on the requirements ofthe revised Basic Sanitary Rules for Radiation Safety - 99/2010. There are considered basic requirements for the organization of industrial waste landfill. As an example, there-are presented the hygiene requirements for industrial waste management and results of waste categorization in Northern Federal Enterprise for Radioactive Waste Management.

Radioactive Waste Management Complex low-level waste radiological performance assessment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maheras, S.J.; Rood, A.S.; Magnuson, S.O.

This report documents the projected radiological dose impacts associated with the disposal of radioactive low-level waste at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. This radiological performance assessment was conducted to evaluate compliance with applicable radiological criteria of the US Department of Energy and the US Environmental Protection Agency for protection of the public and the environment. The calculations involved modeling the transport of radionuclides from buried waste, to surface soil and subsurface media, and eventually to members of the public via air, groundwater, and food chain pathways. Projections of doses were made for both offsitemore » receptors and individuals inadvertently intruding onto the site after closure. In addition, uncertainty and sensitivity analyses were performed. The results of the analyses indicate compliance with established radiological criteria and provide reasonable assurance that public health and safety will be protected.« less

Advanced reactors and associated fuel cycle facilities: safety and environmental impacts.

PubMed

Hill, R N; Nutt, W M; Laidler, J J

2011-01-01

The safety and environmental impacts of new technology and fuel cycle approaches being considered in current U.S. nuclear research programs are contrasted to conventional technology options in this paper. Two advanced reactor technologies, the sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) and the very high temperature gas-cooled reactor (VHTR), are being developed. In general, the new reactor technologies exploit inherent features for enhanced safety performance. A key distinction of advanced fuel cycles is spent fuel recycle facilities and new waste forms. In this paper, the performance of existing fuel cycle facilities and applicable regulatory limits are reviewed. Technology options to improve recycle efficiency, restrict emissions, and/or improve safety are identified. For a closed fuel cycle, potential benefits in waste management are significant, and key waste form technology alternatives are described. Copyright © 2010 Health Physics Society

Hospital workers' perceptions of waste: a qualitative study involving photo-elicitation.

PubMed

Goff, Sarah L; Kleppel, Reva; Lindenauer, Peter K; Rothberg, Michael B

2013-10-01

To elicit sources of waste as viewed by hospital workers. Qualitative study using photo-elicitation, an ethnographic technique for prompting in-depth discussion. U.S. academic tertiary care hospital. Physicians, nurses, pharmacists, administrative support personnel, administrators and respiratory therapists. A purposive sample of personnel at an academic tertiary care hospital was invited to take up to 10 photos of waste. Participants discussed their selections using photos as prompts during in-depth interviews. Transcripts were analysed in an iterative process using grounded theory; open and axial coding was performed, followed by selective and thematic coding to develop major themes and subthemes. Twenty-one participants (nine women, average number of years in field=19.3) took 159 photos. Major themes included types of waste and recommendations to reduce waste. Types of waste comprised four major categories: Time, Materials, Energy and Talent. Participants emphasised time wastage (50% of photos) over other types of waste such as excess utilisation (2.5%). Energy and Talent were novel categories of waste. Recommendations to reduce waste included interventions at the micro-level (eg, individual/ward), meso-level (eg, institution) and macro-level (eg, payor/public policy). The waste hospital workers identified differed from previously described waste both in the types of waste described and the emphasis placed on wasted time. The findings of this study represent a possible need for education of hospital workers about known types of waste, an opportunity to assess the impact of novel types of waste described and an opportunity to intervene to reduce the waste identified.

Safety in the Chemical Laboratory: Learning How to Run Safer Undergraduate Laboratories.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mohrig, Jerry R.

1983-01-01

Discusses responsibilities for providing safe experiments and for teaching about safety. Provides lists of references on chemical safety and regulated/potential carcinogens. Also discusses general laboratory safety procedures including waste disposal and recycling of solvents. (JM)

Feasibility of space disposal of radioactive nuclear waste. 2: Technical summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

The feasibility of transporting radioactive waste produced in the process of generating electricity in nuclear powerplants into space for ultimate disposal was investigated at the request of the AEC as a NASA in-house effort. The investigation is part of a broad AEC study of methods for long-term storage or disposal of radioactive waste. The results of the study indicate that transporting specific radioactive wastes, particularly the actinides with very long half-lives, into space using the space shuttle/tug as the launch system, appears feasible from the engineering and safety viewpoints. The space transportation costs for ejecting the actinides out of the solar system would represent less than a 5-percent increase in the average consumer's electric bill.

Deep Borehole Disposal Safety Analysis.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Freeze, Geoffrey A.; Stein, Emily; Price, Laura L.

This report presents a preliminary safety analysis for the deep borehole disposal (DBD) concept, using a safety case framework. A safety case is an integrated collection of qualitative and quantitative arguments, evidence, and analyses that substantiate the safety, and the level of confidence in the safety, of a geologic repository. This safety case framework for DBD follows the outline of the elements of a safety case, and identifies the types of information that will be required to satisfy these elements. At this very preliminary phase of development, the DBD safety case focuses on the generic feasibility of the DBD concept.more » It is based on potential system designs, waste forms, engineering, and geologic conditions; however, no specific site or regulatory framework exists. It will progress to a site-specific safety case as the DBD concept advances into a site-specific phase, progressing through consent-based site selection and site investigation and characterization.« less

Delivery system for molten salt oxidation of solid waste

DOEpatents

Brummond, William A.; Squire, Dwight V.; Robinson, Jeffrey A.; House, Palmer A.

2002-01-01

The present invention is a delivery system for safety injecting solid waste particles, including mixed wastes, into a molten salt bath for destruction by the process of molten salt oxidation. The delivery system includes a feeder system and an injector that allow the solid waste stream to be accurately metered, evenly dispersed in the oxidant gas, and maintained at a temperature below incineration temperature while entering the molten salt reactor.

One System Integrated Project Team: Retrieval and Delivery of Hanford Tank Wastes for Vitrification in the Waste Treatment Plant - 13234

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harp, Benton J.; Kacich, Richard M.; Skwarek, Raymond J.

The One System Integrated Project Team (IPT) was formed in late 2011 as a way for improving the efficiency of delivery and treatment of highly radioactive waste stored in underground tanks at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) 586-square-mile Hanford Site in southeastern Washington State. The purpose of the One System IPT is to improve coordination and integration between the Hanford's Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) contractor and the Tank Operations Contractor (TOC). The vision statement is: One System is a WTP and TOC safety-conscious team that, through integrated management and implementation of risk-informed decision and mission-based solutions, will enable themore » earliest start of safe and efficient treatment of Hanford's tank waste, to protect the Columbia River, environment and public. The IPT is a formal collaboration between Bechtel National, Inc. (BNI), which manages design and construction of the WTP for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of River Protection (DOEORP), and Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), which manages the TOC for ORP. More than fifty-six (56) million gallons of highly radioactive liquid waste are stored in one hundred seventy-seven (177) aging, underground tanks. Most of Hanford's waste tanks - one hundred forty-nine (149) of them - are of an old single-shell tank (SST) design built between 1944 and 1964. More than sixty (60) of these tanks have leaked in the past, releasing an estimated one million gallons of waste into the soil and threatening the nearby Columbia River. There are another twenty-eight (28) new double-shelled tanks (DSTs), built from 1968 to 1986, that provide greater protection to the environment. In 1989, DOE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) signed a landmark agreement that required Hanford to comply with federal and state environmental standards. It also paved the way for agreements that set deadlines for retrieving the

One System Integrated Project Team: Retrieval And Delivery Of The Hanford Tank Wastes For Vitrification In The Waste Treatment Plant

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harp, Benton J.; Kacich, Richard M.; Skwarek, Raymond J.

The One System Integrated Project Team (IPT) was formed in late 2011 as a way for improving the efficiency of delivery and treatment of highly radioactive waste stored in underground tanks at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) 586-square-mile Hanford Site in southeastern Washington State. The purpose of the One System IPT is to improve coordination and integration between the Hanford's Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) contractor and the Tank Operations Contractor (TOC). The vision statement is: One System is a WTP and TOC safety conscious team that, through integrated management and implementation of risk-informed decision and mission-based solutions, will enablemore » the earliest start of safe and efficient treatment of Hanford's tank waste, to protect the Columbia River, environment and public. The IPT is a formal collaboration between Bechtel National, Inc. (BNI), which manages design and construction of the WTP for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of River Protection (DOEORP), and Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), which manages the TOC for ORP. More than fifty-six (56) million gallons of highly radioactive liquid waste are stored in one hundred seventy-seven (177) aging, underground tanks. Most of Hanford's waste tanks - one hundred forty-nine (149) of them - are of an old single-shell tank (SST) design built between 1944 and 1964. More than sixty (60) of these tanks have leaked in the past, releasing an estimated one million gallons of waste into the soil and threatening the nearby Columbia River. There are another twenty-eight (28) new double-shelled tanks (DSTs), built from 1968 to 1986, that provide greater protection to the environment. In 1989, DOE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) signed a landmark agreement that required Hanford to comply with federal and state environmental standards. It also paved the way for agreements that set deadlines for retrieving the

Developing a model for moisture in saltcake waste tanks: Progress report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Simmons, C.S.; Aimo, N.; Fayer, M.J.

1997-07-01

This report describes a modeling effort to provide a computer simulation capability for estimating the distribution and movement of moisture in the saltcake-type waste contained in Hanford`s single-shell radioactive waste storage tanks. This moisture model goes beyond an earlier version because it describes water vapor movement as well as the interstitial liquid held in a saltcake waste. The work was performed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to assist Duke Engineering and Services Hanford with the Organic Tank Safety Program. The Organic Tank Safety Program is concerned whether saltcake waste, when stabilized by jet pumping, will retain sufficient moisture near themore » surface to preclude any possibility of an accidental ignition and propagation of burning. The nitrate/nitrite saltcake, which might also potentially include combustible organic chemicals might not always retain enough moisture near the surface to preclude any such accident. Draining liquid from a tank by pumping, coupled with moisture evaporating into a tank`s head space, may cause a dry waste surface that is not inherently safe. The moisture model was devised to help examine this safety question. The model accounts for water being continually cycled by evaporation into the head space and returned to the waste by condensation or partly lost through venting to the external atmosphere. Water evaporation occurs even in a closed tank, because it is driven by the transfer to the outside of the heat load generated by radioactivity within the waste. How dry a waste may become over time depends on the particular hydraulic properties of a saltcake, and the model uses those properties to describe the capillary flow of interstitial liquid as well as the water vapor flow caused by thermal differences within the porous waste.« less

Direct cementitious waste option study report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dafoe, R.E.; Losinski, S.J.

A settlement agreement between the Department of Energy (DOE) and the State of Idaho mandates that all high-level radioactive waste (HLW) now stored at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) will be treated so that it is ready to be moved out of Idaho for disposal by a target data of 2035. This study investigates the direct grouting of all ICPP calcine (including the HLW dry calcine and those resulting from calcining sodium-bearing liquid waste currently residing in the ICPP storage tanks) as the treatment method to comply with the settlement agreement. This method involves grouting the calcined waste andmore » casting the resulting hydroceramic grout into stainless steel canisters. These canisters will be stored at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) until they are sent to a national geologic repository. The operating period for grouting treatment will be from 2013 through 2032, and all the HLW will be treated and in interim storage by the end of 2032.« less

Ageing management program for the Spanish low and intermediate level waste disposal and spent fuel and high-level waste centralised storage facilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuloaga, P.; Ordoñez, M.; Andrade, C.; Castellote, M.

2011-04-01

The generic design of the centralised spent fuel storage facility was approved by the Spanish Safety Authority in 2006. The planned operational life is 60 years, while the design service life is 100 years. Durability studies and surveillance of the behaviour have been considered from the initial design steps, taking into account the accessibility limitations and temperatures involved. The paper presents an overview of the ageing management program set in support of the Performance Assessment and Safety Review of El Cabril low and intermediate level waste (LILW) disposal facility. Based on the experience gained for LILW, ENRESA has developed a preliminary definition of the Ageing Management Plan for the Centralised Interim Storage Facility of spent Fuel and High Level Waste (HLW), which addresses the behaviour of spent fuel, its retrievability, the confinement system and the reinforced concrete structure. It includes tests plans and surveillance design considerations, based on the El Cabril LILW disposal facility.

Hospital workers' perceptions of waste: a qualitative study involving photo-elicitation

PubMed Central

Goff, Sarah L.; Kleppel, Reva; Lindenauer, Peter K.; Rothberg, Michael B.

2015-01-01

Objectives To elicit sources of waste as viewed by hospital workers Design Qualitative study using photo-elicitation, an ethnographic technique for prompting in-depth discussion Setting U.S. academic tertiary care hospital Participants Physicians, nurses, pharmacists, administrative support personnel, administrators and respiratory therapists Methods A purposive sample of personnel at an academic tertiary care hospital was invited to take up to 10 photos of waste. Participants discussed their selections using photos as prompts during in-depth interviews. Transcripts were analyzed in an iterative process using grounded theory; open and axial coding was performed, followed by selective and thematic coding to develop major themes and sub-themes. Results Twenty-one participants (9 women, average number of years in field=19.3) took 159 photos. Major themes included types of waste and recommendations to reduce waste. Types of waste comprised four major categories: Time, Materials, Energy and Talent. Participants emphasized time wastage (50% of photos) over other types of waste such as excess utilization (2.5%). Energy and Talent were novel categories of waste. Recommendations to reduce waste included interventions at the micro-level (e.g. individual/ward), meso-level (e.g. institution) and macro-level (e.g., payor/public policy). Conclusions The waste hospital workers identified differed from previously described waste both in the types of waste described and the emphasis placed on wasted time. The findings of this study represent a possible need for education of hospital workers about known types of waste, an opportunity to assess the impact of novel types of waste described and an opportunity to intervene to reduce the waste identified. PMID:23748192

Setting and stiffening of cementitious components in Cast Stone waste form for disposal of secondary wastes from the Hanford waste treatment and immobilization plant

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chung, Chul-Woo; Chun, Jaehun, E-mail: jaehun.chun@pnnl.gov; Um, Wooyong

2013-04-01

Cast Stone is a cementitious waste form, a viable option to immobilize secondary nuclear liquid wastes generated from the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant. However, no study has been performed to understand the flow and stiffening behavior, which is essential to ensure proper workability and is important to safety in a nuclear waste field-scale application. X-ray diffraction, rheology, and ultrasonic wave reflection methods were used to understand the specific phase formation and stiffening of Cast Stone. Our results showed a good correlation between rheological properties of the fresh mixture and phase formation in Cast Stone. Secondary gypsum formation wasmore » observed with low concentration simulants, and the formation of gypsum was suppressed in high concentration simulants. A threshold concentration for the drastic change in stiffening was found at 1.56 M Na concentration. It was found that the stiffening of Cast Stone was strongly dependent on the concentration of simulant. Highlights: • A combination of XRD, UWR, and rheology gives a better understanding of Cast Stone. • Stiffening of Cast Stone was strongly dependent on the concentration of simulant. • A drastic change in stiffening of Cast Stone was found at 1.56 M Na concentration.« less

Setting and Stiffening of Cementitious Components in Cast Stone Waste Form for Disposal of Secondary Wastes from the Hanford waste treatment and immobilization plant

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chung, Chul-Woo; Chun, Jaehun; Um, Wooyong

2013-04-01

Cast stone is a cementitious waste form, a viable option to immobilize secondary nuclear liquid wastes generated from Hanford vitrification plant. While the strength and radioactive technetium leaching of different waste form candidates have been reported, no study has been performed to understand the flow and stiffening behavior of Cast Stone, which is essential to ensure the proper workability, especially considering necessary safety as a nuclear waste form in a field scale application. The rheological and ultrasonic wave reflection (UWR) measurements were used to understand the setting and stiffening Cast Stone batches. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to find themore » correlation between specific phase formation and the stiffening of the paste. Our results showed good correlation between rheological properties of the fresh Cast Stone mixture and phase formation during hydration of Cast Stone. Secondary gypsum formation originating from blast furnace slag was observed in Cast Stone made with low concentration simulants. The formation of gypsum was suppressed in high concentration simulants. It was found that the stiffening of Cast Stone was strongly dependent on the concentration of simulant. A threshold concentration for the drastic change in stiffening was found at 1.56 M Na concentration.« less

Microbial utilisation of natural organic wastes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ilyin, V. K.; Smirnov, I. A.; Soldatov, P. E.; Korniushenkova, I. N.; Grinin, A. S.; Lykov, I. N.; Safronova, S. A.

2004-03-01

The waste management strategy for the future should meet the benefits of humanity safety, respect principals of planet ecology, and compatibility with other habitability systems. For these purpose the waste management technologies, relevant to application of the biodegradation properties of bacteria are of great value. The biological treatment method is based upon the biodegradation of organic substances by various microorganisms. The advantage of the biodegradation waste management in general: it allows to diminish the volume of organic wastes, the biological hazard of the wastes is controlled and this system may be compatible with the other systems. The objectives of our study were: to evaluate effectiveness of microbial biodegradation of non-pretreated substrate, to construct phneumoautomatic digester for organic wastes biodegradation and to study microbial characteristics of active sludge samples used as inoculi in biodegradation experiment. The technology of vegetable wastes treatment was elaborated in IBMP and BMSTU. For this purpose the special unit was created where the degradation process is activated by enforced reinvention of portions of elaborated biogas into digester. This technology allows to save energy normally used for electromechanical agitation and to create optimal environment for anaerobic bacteria growth. The investigations were performed on waste simulator, which imitates physical and chemical content of food wastes calculated basing on the data on food wastes of moderate Russian city. The volume of created experimental sample of digester is 40 l. The basic system elements of device are digesters, gas receiver, remover of drops and valve monitoring and thermal control system. In our testing we used natural food wastes to measure basic parameters and time of biodegradation process. The diminution rate of organic gained 76% from initial mass taking part within 9 days of fermentation. The biogas production achieved 46 l per 1 kg of substrate

[Nationwide survey on radioactive waste management related to positron emission tomography in Japan].

PubMed

Nagaoka, Hiroaki; Watanabe, Hiroshi; Yamaguchi, Ichiro; Fujibuchi, Toshioh; Kida, Tetsuo; Tanaka, Shinji

2009-12-20

A clearance system for medical radioactive solid waste has not yet been implemented in Japan. Since 2004 new regulations have allowed institutions using positron emission tomography(PET)to handle totally decayed radioactive waste as non-radioactive waste after decay-in-storage. It was expected that this new regulation would mediate the installation of clearance systems in Japan. In order to assess the current situation of radiation safety management in PET institutions, we conducted a nationwide survey. The study design was a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted by questionnaire. The subjects of this survey were all the PET institutions in Japan. Among 224 institutes, 128 institutes are equipped with cyclotrons and 96 institutes are not. The number of returned questionnaires was 138. Among institutes that are using delivered radiopharmaceuticals, 80% treat their waste as non-radioactive according to the new regulation. The impact of new regulations for reducing radioactive waste in PET institutes without a cyclotron was estimated at about $400 thousand per year. The main concern of medical institutes was assessment of the contamination caused by by-products of radioactive nuclides generated in target water during the operation of a cyclotron. It was thought that a rational rule based on scientific risk management should be established because these by-products of radioactive nuclides are negligible for radiation safety. New regulation has had a good influence on medical PET institutes, and it is expected that a clearance system for medical radioactive waste will be introduced in the near future, following these recent experiences in PET institutes.

An innovative national health care waste management system in Kyrgyzstan.

PubMed

Toktobaev, Nurjan; Emmanuel, Jorge; Djumalieva, Gulmira; Kravtsov, Alexei; Schüth, Tobias

2015-02-01

A novel low-cost health care waste management system was implemented in all rural hospitals in Kyrgyzstan. The components of the Kyrgyz model include mechanical needle removers, segregation using autoclavable containers, safe transport and storage, autoclave treatment, documentation, recycling of sterilized plastic and metal parts, cement pits for anatomical waste, composting of garden wastes, training, equipment maintenance, and management by safety and quality committees. The gravity-displacement autoclaves were fitted with filters to remove pathogens from the air exhaust. Operating parameters for the autoclaves were determined by thermal and biological tests. A hospital survey showed an average 33% annual cost savings compared to previous costs for waste management. All general hospitals with >25 beds except in the capital Bishkek use the new system, corresponding to 67.3% of all hospital beds. The investment amounted to US$0.61 per capita covered. Acceptance of the new system by the staff, cost savings, revenues from recycled materials, documented improvements in occupational safety, capacity building, and institutionalization enhance the sustainability of the Kyrgyz health care waste management system. © The Author(s) 2015.

Multi-discipline Waste Acceptance Process at the Nevada National Security Site - 13573

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carilli, Jhon T.; Krenzien, Susan K.

2013-07-01

The Nevada National Security Site low-level radioactive waste disposal facility acceptance process requires multiple disciplines to ensure the protection of workers, the public, and the environment. These disciplines, which include waste acceptance, nuclear criticality, safety, permitting, operations, and performance assessment, combine into the overall waste acceptance process to assess low-level radioactive waste streams for disposal at the Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site. Four waste streams recently highlighted the integration of these disciplines: the Oak Ridge Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators and Consolidated Edison Uranium Solidification Project material, West Valley Melter, and classified waste. (authors)

Decommissioning the Romanian Water-Cooled Water-Moderated Research Reactor: New Environmental Perspective on the Management of Radioactive Waste

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barariu, G.; Giumanca, R.

2006-07-01

Pre-feasibility and feasibility studies were performed for decommissioning of the water-cooled water-moderated research reactor (WWER) located in Bucharest - Magurele, Romania. Using these studies as a starting point, the preferred safe management strategy for radioactive wastes produced by reactor decommissioning is outlined. The strategy must account for reactor decommissioning, as well as for the rehabilitation of the existing Radioactive Waste Treatment Plant and for the upgrade of the Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility at Baita-Bihor. Furthermore, the final rehabilitation of the laboratories and ecological reconstruction of the grounds need to be provided for, in accordance with national and international regulations. Inmore » accordance with IAEA recommendations at the time, the pre-feasibility study proposed three stages of decommissioning. However, since then new ideas have surfaced with regard to decommissioning. Thus, taking into account the current IAEA ideology, the feasibility study proposes that decommissioning of the WWER be done in one stage to an unrestricted clearance level of the reactor building in an Immediate Dismantling option. Different options and the corresponding derived preferred option for waste management are discussed taking into account safety measures, but also considering technical, logistical and economic factors. For this purpose, possible types of waste created during each decommissioning stage are reviewed. An approximate inventory of each type of radioactive waste is presented. The proposed waste management strategy is selected in accordance with the recommended international basic safety standards identified in the previous phase of the project. The existing Radioactive Waste Treatment Plant (RWTP) from the Horia Hulubei Institute for Nuclear Physics and Engineering (IFIN-HH), which has been in service with no significant upgrade since 1974, will need refurbishing due to deterioration, as well as upgrading in order to

Lean production design using value stream mapping and ergonomics approach for waste elimination on buffing panel upright process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suryoputro, M. R.; Sari, A. D.; Burhanudin, R.; Sugarindra, M.

2017-12-01

This study discussed the implementation of ergonomics and value stream mapping issues to reduce the existing waste in the process of buffing upright panel in the XYZ music manufacturing company. Aimed to identify the 9 waste based on the identification in terms of production processes and ergonomic factors, namely environmental health and safety, defects, overproduction, waiting, not utilizing employee knowledge skill and ability, transportation, inventory, motion, and excess process. In addition, ergonomics factors were identified, for example posture using REBA, job safety analysis, and physical workload. This study results indicated that the process is having 21.4% of the potential dangers that could not be accepted and thus potentially lead to lost time. Continued with the physical workload, the score of % cardiovascular load value is still below 30%, which means that the physical workload is normal and allows the addition of work. Meanwhile, in the calculation of posture investigation, the REBA resulted that there was a motion waste identified on the edge buff machine and ryoto with the score of 10 and 8. In conclusion, the results shown that there were 20 overall waste produced, then thus waste were reduced based on the identification and discussion of proposed improvements.

Considerations Related To Human Intrusion In The Context Of Disposal Of Radioactive Waste-The IAEA HIDRA Project

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Seitz, Roger; Kumano, Yumiko; Bailey, Lucy

2014-01-09

The principal approaches for management of radioactive waste are commonly termed ‘delay and decay’, ‘concentrate and contain’ and ‘dilute and disperse’. Containing the waste and isolating it from the human environment, by burying it, is considered to increase safety and is generally accepted as the preferred approach for managing radioactive waste. However, this approach results in concentrated sources of radioactive waste contained in one location, which can pose hazards should the facility be disrupted by human action in the future. The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development/Nuclear Energymore » Agency (OECD/NEA) agree that some form of inadvertent human intrusion (HI) needs to be considered to address the potential consequences in the case of loss of institutional control and loss of memory of the disposal facility. Requirements are reflected in national regulations governing radioactive waste disposal. However, in practice, these requirements are often different from country to country, which is then reflected in the actual implementation of HI as part of a safety case. The IAEA project on HI in the context of Disposal of RadioActive waste (HIDRA) has been started to identify potential areas for improved consistency in consideration of HI. The expected outcome is to provide recommendations on how to address human actions in the safety case in the future, and how the safety case may be used to demonstrate robustness and optimize siting, design and waste acceptance criteria within the context of a safety case.« less

Safety compliance and safety climate: A repeated cross-sectional study in the oil and gas industry.

PubMed

Kvalheim, Sverre A; Dahl, Øyvind

2016-12-01

Violations of safety rules and procedures are commonly identified as a causal factor in accidents in the oil and gas industry. Extensive knowledge on effective management practices related to improved compliance with safety procedures is therefore needed. Previous studies of the causal relationship between safety climate and safety compliance demonstrate that the propensity to act in accordance with prevailing rules and procedures is influenced to a large degree by workers' safety climate. Commonly, the climate measures employed differ from one study to another and identical measures of safety climate are seldom tested repeatedly over extended periods of time. This research gap is addressed in the present study. The study is based on a survey conducted four times among sharp-end workers of the Norwegian oil and gas industry (N=31,350). This is done by performing multiple tests (regression analysis) over a period of 7years of the causal relationship between safety climate and safety compliance. The safety climate measure employed is identical across the 7-year period. Taking all periods together, the employed safety climate model explained roughly 27% of the variance in safety compliance. The causal relationship was found to be stable across the period, thereby increasing the reliability and the predictive validity of the factor structure. The safety climate factor that had the most powerful effect on safety compliance was work pressure. The factor structure employed shows high predictive validity and should therefore be relevant to organizations seeking to improve safety in the petroleum sector. The findings should also be relevant to other high-hazard industries where safety rules and procedures constitute a central part of the approach to managing safety. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and National Safety Council. All rights reserved.

29 CFR 1926.65 - Hazardous waste operations and emergency response.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Section 1926.65 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (CONTINUED) SAFETY AND HEALTH REGULATIONS FOR CONSTRUCTION Occupational Health and Environmental Controls § 1926.65 Hazardous waste operations and emergency response. (a) Scope...

A comparative study on per capita waste generation according to a waste collecting system in Korea.

PubMed

Oh, Jung Hwan; Lee, Eui-Jong; Oh, Jeong Ik; Kim, Jong-Oh; Jang, Am

2016-04-01

As cities are becoming increasingly aware of problems related to conventional mobile collection systems, automated pipeline-based vacuum collection (AVAC) systems have been introduced in some densely populated urban areas. The reasons are that in addition to cost savings, AVAC systems can be efficient, hygienic, and environmentally friendly. Despite difficulties in making direct comparisons of municipal waste between a conventional mobile collection system and an AVAC system, it is meaningful to measure the quantities in each of these collection methods either in total or on a per capita generation of waste (PCGW, g/(day*capita)) basis. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the difference in per capita generation of household waste according to the different waste collection methods in Korea. Observations on household waste show that there were considerable differences according to waste collection methods. The value of per capita generation of food waste (PCGF) indicates that a person in a city using AVAC produces 60 % of PCGF (109.58 g/(day*capita)), on average, compared with that of a truck system (173.10 g/(day*capita)) as well as 23 %p less moisture component than that with trucks. The value of per capita generation of general waste (PCGG) in a city with an AVAC system showed 147.73 g/(day*capita), which is 20 % less than that with trucks delivered (185 g/(day*capita)). However, general waste sampled from AVAC showed a 35 %p increased moisture content versus truck delivery.

77 FR 75633 - Safety and Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-21

... Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) In... Public Law 92-463. Purpose: The Safety and Occupational Health Study Section will review, discuss, and... cycles pertaining to research issues in occupational safety and health, and allied areas. It is the...

75 FR 26266 - Safety and Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-11

... Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) In...) Public Law 92-463. Purpose: The Safety and Occupational Health Study Section will review, discuss, and... cycles pertaining to research issues in occupational safety and health, and allied areas. It is the...

Facility safety study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

The safety of NASA's in house microelectronics facility is addressed. Industrial health standards, facility emission control requirements, operation and safety checklists, and the disposal of epitaxial vent gas are considered.

Passengers waste production during flights.

PubMed

Tofalli, Niki; Loizia, Pantelitsa; Zorpas, Antonis A

2017-12-20

We assume that during flights the amount of waste that is produced is limited. However, daily, approximately 8000 commercial airplanes fly above Europe's airspace while at the same time, more than 17,000 commercial flights exist in the entire world. Using primary data from airlines, which use the Larnaca's International Airport (LIA) in Cyprus, we have tried to understand why wastes are produced during a typical flight such as food waste, paper, and plastics, as well as how passengers affect the production of those wastes. The compositional analysis took place on 27 flights of 4 different airlines which used LIA as final destination. The evaluation indicated that the passenger's habits and ethics, and the policy of each airline produced different kinds of waste during the flights and especially food waste (FW). Furthermore, it was observed that the only waste management strategy that exists in place in the airport is the collection and the transportation of all those wastes from aircrafts and from the airport in the central unit for further treatment. Hence, this research indicated extremely difficulties to implement any specific waste minimization, or prevention practice or other sorting methods during the flights due to the limited time of the most flights (less than 3 h), the limited available space within the aircrafts, and the strictly safety roles that exist during the flights.

Forecasting waste compositions: A case study on plastic waste of electronic display housings.

PubMed

Peeters, Jef R; Vanegas, Paul; Kellens, Karel; Wang, Feng; Huisman, Jaco; Dewulf, Wim; Duflou, Joost R

2015-12-01

Because of the rapid succession of technological developments, the architecture and material composition of many products used in daily life have drastically changed over the last decades. As a result, well-adjusted recycling technologies need to be developed and installed to cope with these evolutions. This is essential to guarantee continued access to materials and to reduce the ecological impact of our material consumption. However, limited information is currently available on the material composition of arising waste streams and even less on how these waste streams will evolve. Therefore, this paper presents a methodology to forecast trends in the material composition of waste streams. To demonstrate the applicability and value of the proposed methodology, it is applied to forecast the evolution of plastic housing waste from flat panel display (FPD) TVs, FPD monitors, cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs and CRT monitors. The results of the presented forecasts indicate that a wide variety of plastic types and additives, such as flame retardants, are found in housings of similar products. The presented case study demonstrates that the proposed methodology allows the identification of trends in the evolution of the material composition of waste streams. In addition, it is demonstrated that the recycling sector will need to adapt its processes to deal with the increasing complexity of plastics of end-of-life electronic displays while respecting relevant directives. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Designing and examining e-waste recycling process: methodology and case studies.

PubMed

Li, Jinhui; He, Xin; Zeng, Xianlai

2017-03-01

Increasing concerns on resource depletion and environmental pollution have largely obliged electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) should be tackled in an environmentally sound manner. Recycling process development is regarded as the most effective and fundamental to solve the e-waste problem. Based on global achievements related to e-waste recycling in the past 15 years, we first propose a theory to design an e-waste recycling process, including measuring e-waste recyclability and selection of recycling process. And we summarize the indicators and tools in terms of resource dimension, environmental dimension, and economic dimension, to examine the e-waste recycling process. Using the sophisticated experience and adequate information of e-waste management, spent lithium-ion batteries and waste printed circuit boards are chosen as case studies to implement and verify the proposed method. All the potential theory and obtained results in this work can contribute to future e-waste management toward best available techniques and best environmental practices.

Environmental, Safety, and Health Considerations: Composite Materials in the Aerospace Industry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chu, Huai-Pu (Compiler)

1994-01-01

The Aerospace Industries Association, Suppliers of Advanced Composite Materials Association, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration co-sponsored a conference on 'Environmental, Safety, and Health Considerations--Composite Materials in the Aerospace Industry.' The conference was held in Mesa, Arizona, on October 20-21, 1994. Seventeen papers were presented in four sessions including general information, safety, waste, and emissions from composites. Topics range from product stewardship, best work practice, biotransformation of uncured composite materials, to hazardous waste determination and offgassing of composite materials.

Database for Safety-Oriented Tracking of Chemicals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stump, Jacob; Carr, Sandra; Plumlee, Debrah; Slater, Andy; Samson, Thomas M.; Holowaty, Toby L.; Skeete, Darren; Haenz, Mary Alice; Hershman, Scot; Raviprakash, Pushpa

2010-01-01

SafetyChem is a computer program that maintains a relational database for tracking chemicals and associated hazards at Johnson Space Center (JSC) by use of a Web-based graphical user interface. The SafetyChem database is accessible to authorized users via a JSC intranet. All new chemicals pass through a safety office, where information on hazards, required personal protective equipment (PPE), fire-protection warnings, and target organ effects (TOEs) is extracted from material safety data sheets (MSDSs) and recorded in the database. The database facilitates real-time management of inventory with attention to such issues as stability, shelf life, reduction of waste through transfer of unused chemicals to laboratories that need them, quantification of chemical wastes, and identification of chemicals for which disposal is required. Upon searching the database for a chemical, the user receives information on physical properties of the chemical, hazard warnings, required PPE, a link to the MSDS, and references to the applicable International Standards Organization (ISO) 9000 standard work instructions and the applicable job hazard analysis. Also, to reduce the labor hours needed to comply with reporting requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the data can be directly exported into the JSC hazardous- materials database.

Wisconsin large truck safety and enforcement study.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-07-01

The Wisconsin Large Truck Safety and Enforcement Study (LTS&E) focused on a system-wide evaluation of large truck safety in the : state of Wisconsin. This study analyzes crash data related to large trucks that are close to the following criteria: gre...

Occupational Risks Associated with Solid Waste Management in the Informal Sector of Gweru, Zimbabwe

PubMed Central

Jerie, Steven

2016-01-01

This study identifies and analyses the occupational risks associated with solid waste management practices in the informal enterprises of Gweru. Many concerns have been raised about the potential harm from waste to the environment and the general public, but the risks and consequent costs of occupational hazards in waste management have received little attention in the rush to adopt or adapt technologies such as composting. A multimethods research design that triangulates qualitative and quantitative research paradigms is employed in this study. The quantitative design involves physical characterisation of solid waste through material component separation and measurements as well as a questionnaire survey that investigates the risks associated with waste management. The qualitative component includes interviews, open-ended questionnaires, and field observations. Occupational risks occur at every stage in the waste management process, from the point where workers handle waste in the enterprises for collection or recycling to the point of ultimate disposal. Key findings from the study revealed that solid waste management practices are dominated by manual handling tasks hence the higher incidents of muscular-skeletal disorders. Other safety and health hazards associated with waste management in the informal enterprises of Gweru include incidents of diarrhoea, viral hepatitis, and higher incidents of obstructive and restrictive disorders. PMID:27418935

Occupational Risks Associated with Solid Waste Management in the Informal Sector of Gweru, Zimbabwe.

PubMed

Jerie, Steven

2016-01-01

This study identifies and analyses the occupational risks associated with solid waste management practices in the informal enterprises of Gweru. Many concerns have been raised about the potential harm from waste to the environment and the general public, but the risks and consequent costs of occupational hazards in waste management have received little attention in the rush to adopt or adapt technologies such as composting. A multimethods research design that triangulates qualitative and quantitative research paradigms is employed in this study. The quantitative design involves physical characterisation of solid waste through material component separation and measurements as well as a questionnaire survey that investigates the risks associated with waste management. The qualitative component includes interviews, open-ended questionnaires, and field observations. Occupational risks occur at every stage in the waste management process, from the point where workers handle waste in the enterprises for collection or recycling to the point of ultimate disposal. Key findings from the study revealed that solid waste management practices are dominated by manual handling tasks hence the higher incidents of muscular-skeletal disorders. Other safety and health hazards associated with waste management in the informal enterprises of Gweru include incidents of diarrhoea, viral hepatitis, and higher incidents of obstructive and restrictive disorders.

Urban solid waste generation and disposal in Mexico: a case study.

PubMed

Buenrostro, O; Bocco, G; Bernache, G

2001-04-01

The adequate management of municipal solid waste in developing countries is difficult because of the scarcity of studies about their composition. This paper analyses the composition of urban solid waste (USW) in the city of Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico. Residential and non-residential waste sources were sampled, and a structured interview was made to evaluate the socioeconomic characteristics of the studied area. Also, to determine the seasonal patterns of solid waste generation and the efficiency level of the collection service, quantification of solid waste deposited in the dumping ground was measured. Our results show that the recorded amount of SW deposited in the municipal dumping-ground is less than the estimated amount of SW generated; for this reason, the former amount is not recommended as an unbiased indicator for planning public waste collection services. It is essential that dumping-grounds are permanently monitored and that the incoming waste be weighed in order to have a more efficient record of USW deposited in the dumping-ground per day; these data are fundamental for developing adequate managing strategies.

Dose rate prediction methodology for remote handled transuranic waste workers at the waste isolation pilot plant.

PubMed

Hayes, Robert

2002-10-01

An approach is described for estimating future dose rates to Waste Isolation Pilot Plant workers processing remote handled transuranic waste. The waste streams will come from the entire U.S. Department of Energy complex and can take on virtually any form found from the processing sequences for defense-related production, radiochemistry, activation and related work. For this reason, the average waste matrix from all generator sites is used to estimate the average radiation fields over the facility lifetime. Innovative new techniques were applied to estimate expected radiation fields. Non-linear curve fitting techniques were used to predict exposure rate profiles from cylindrical sources using closed form equations for lines and disks. This information becomes the basis for Safety Analysis Report dose rate estimates and for present and future ALARA design reviews when attempts are made to reduce worker doses.

The radioactive waste management policy and practice in the Czech Republic

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kucerka, M.

1996-12-31

In recent period, the new Czech Atomic Law is in the final stage of preparation, and the author expects that Parliament of the Czech Republic will approve it in the first half of the year 1996. Partly the law deals with new distribution of responsibilities among bodies involved in utilization of nuclear energy and ionizing radiation, the state and local authorities. The new provisions include also radioactive waste management activities. These provisions clarify the relations between radioactive waste generators and state, and define explicitly duties of waste generators. One of the most important duties is to cover all expenses formore » radioactive waste management now and in the future, including radioactive waste disposal and decommissioning of nuclear facilities. The law establishes radioactive waste management and decommissioning funds and the new, on waste generators independent radioactive waste management organization, controlled by state, to ensure the safety of inhabitants and the environment, and a optimization of expenses. Parallel to the preparation of the law, the Ministry of Industry and Trade prepares drafts of a statute of the radioactive waste management organization and its control board, and of the methodology and rules of management the radioactive waste fund. First drafts of these documents are expected to be complete in January 1996. The paper will describe recent practice and policy of the radioactive waste management including uranium mining and milling tailings, amounts of waste and its activities, economical background, and safety. A special attention will be paid to description of expected changes in connection with the new Atomic Law and expected steps and time schedule of reorganization of the radioactive waste management structure in the Czech Republic.« less

Waste Minimization Study on Pyrochemical Reprocessing Processes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Boussier, H.; Conocar, O.; Lacquement, J.

2006-07-01

Ideally a new pyro-process should not generate more waste, and should be at least as safe and cost effective as the hydrometallurgical processes currently implemented at industrial scale. This paper describes the thought process, the methodology and some results obtained by process integration studies to devise potential pyro-processes and to assess their capability of achieving this challenging objective. As example the assessment of a process based on salt/metal reductive extraction, designed for the reprocessing of Generation IV carbide spent fuels, is developed. Salt/metal reductive extraction uses the capability of some metals, aluminum in this case, to selectively reduce actinide fluoridesmore » previously dissolved in a fluoride salt bath. The reduced actinides enter the metal phase from which they are subsequently recovered; the fission products remain in the salt phase. In fact, the process is not so simple, as it requires upstream and downstream subsidiary steps. All these process steps generate secondary waste flows representing sources of actinide leakage and/or FP discharge. In aqueous processes the main solvent (nitric acid solution) has a low boiling point and evaporate easily or can be removed by distillation, thereby leaving limited flow containing the dissolved substance behind to be incorporated in a confinement matrix. From the point of view of waste generation, one main handicap of molten salt processes, is that the saline phase (fluoride in our case) used as solvent is of same nature than the solutes (radionuclides fluorides) and has a quite high boiling point. So it is not so easy, than it is with aqueous solutions, to separate solvent and solutes in order to confine only radioactive material and limit the final waste flows. Starting from the initial block diagram devised two years ago, the paper shows how process integration studies were able to propose process fittings which lead to a reduction of the waste variety and flows leading at an

Marshall Space Flight Center solid waste characterization and recycling improvement study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eley, Michael H.; Crews, Lavonne; Johnston, Ben; Lee, David; Colebaugh, James

1995-01-01

The MSFC Facilities Office, which is responsible for disposing of all waste generated by MSFC, issued a delivery order to the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) to characterize current MSFC waste streams and to evaluate their existing recycling program. The purpose of the study was to define the nature, quantity, and types of waste produced and to generate ideas for improving the present recycling program. Specifically, the following tasks were to be performed: Identify various surplus and waste materials--as identified by the Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR)--by source, location, and type; Analyze MSFC's current methods for handling, storage, transport, and disposition of waste and surplussed materials; Determine the composition of various surplus and waste materials as to type and quantities from various sources and locations; Analyze different methods for the disposition of various surplus and waste materials, including quality, quantity, preparation, transport cost, and value; Study possible alternatives to current methods of handling, storage, transport, and disposition of surplus and waste materials to improve the quality and quantities recycled or sold and to reduce and minimize the quantities of surplus and waste material currently being disposed of or stored; Provide recommendations for source and centralized segregation and aggregation of materials for recycling and/or disposition; and The analysis could include identification and laboratory level evaluation of methods and/or equipment, including capital costs, operating costs, maintenance requirements, life cycle and return on investment for systems to support the waste reduction program mission.

Science Laboratory Safety: Findings and Implications for Teacher Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swami, Piyush

1986-01-01

Summarizes a survey of the condition of high school science laboratories in the greater Cincinnati area (N=36). Reports safety measures undertaken for fire and burn and eye and face protection, waste disposal, storage facilities, and ventilation. Offers suggestions and plans for enriching safety education programs for teachers. (ML)

Investigation of health care waste management in Binzhou District, China

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ruoyan, Gai; Xu Lingzhong; Li Huijuan

In China, national regulations and standards for health care waste management were implemented in 2003. To investigate the current status of health care waste management at different levels of health care facilities (HCF) after the implementation of these regulations, one tertiary hospital, one secondary hospital, and four primary health care centers from Binzhou District were visited and 145 medical staff members and 24 cleaning personnel were interviewed. Generated medical waste totaled 1.22, 0.77, and 1.17 kg/bed/day in tertiary, secondary, and primary HCF, respectively. The amount of medical waste generated in primary health care centers was much higher than that inmore » secondary hospitals, which may be attributed to general waste being mixed with medical waste. This study found that the level of the HCF, responsibility for medical waste management in departments and wards, educational background and training experience can be factors that determine medical staff members' knowledge of health care waste management policy. Regular training programs and sufficient provision of protective measures are urgently needed to improve occupational safety for cleaning personnel. Financing and administrative monitoring by local authorities is needed to improve handling practices and the implementation of off-site centralized disposal in primary health care centers.« less

Municipal Solid Waste Composition Study of Selected Area in Gambang, Pahang

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mokhtar, Nadiah; Ishak, Wan Faizal Wan; Suraya Romali, Noor; Fatimah Che Osmi, Siti; Armi Abu Samah, Mohd

2013-06-01

The amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) generated continue to increase in response to rapid growth in population, change in life style and accelerated urbanization and industrialization process. The study on MSW is important in order to determine the composition further seeks an immediate remedy to minimize the waste generated at the early stage. As most of the MSW goes to the landfill or dumping sites, particularly in Malaysia, closure of filled-up landfill may become an alarm clock for an immediate action of proper solid waste management. This research aims to determine the waste composition generated from selected residential area at Gambang, Kuantan, Pahang which represent Old residential area (ORA), Intermediate residential area (IRA) and New residential area (NRA). The study was conducted by segregating and weighing solid waste in the residential area into 6 main components ie., food waste, paper, plastic, glass, metal and others. In a period of four weeks, samples from the residential unit were taken and analyzed. The MSW generation rates were recorded vary from 0.217 to 0.388 kg person-1day-1. Food waste has become the major solid waste component generated daily which mounted up to 50%. From this research, the result revealed that the recyclable composition of waste generated by residents have a potential to be reuse, recycle and reduce at the point sources.

WASTE TREATMENT BUILDING SYSTEM DESCRIPTION DOCUMENT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

F. Habashi

2000-06-22

The Waste Treatment Building System provides the space, layout, structures, and embedded subsystems that support the processing of low-level liquid and solid radioactive waste generated within the Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR). The activities conducted in the Waste Treatment Building include sorting, volume reduction, and packaging of dry waste, and collecting, processing, solidification, and packaging of liquid waste. The Waste Treatment Building System is located on the surface within the protected area of the MGR. The Waste Treatment Building System helps maintain a suitable environment for the waste processing and protects the systems within the Waste Treatment Building (WTB) from mostmore » of the natural and induced environments. The WTB also confines contaminants and provides radiological protection to personnel. In addition to the waste processing operations, the Waste Treatment Building System provides space and layout for staging of packaged waste for shipment, industrial and radiological safety systems, control and monitoring of operations, safeguards and security systems, and fire protection, ventilation and utilities systems. The Waste Treatment Building System also provides the required space and layout for maintenance activities, tool storage, and administrative facilities. The Waste Treatment Building System integrates waste processing systems within its protective structure to support the throughput rates established for the MGR. The Waste Treatment Building System also provides shielding, layout, and other design features to help limit personnel radiation exposures to levels which are as low as is reasonably achievable (ALARA). The Waste Treatment Building System interfaces with the Site Generated Radiological Waste Handling System, and with other MGR systems that support the waste processing operations. The Waste Treatment Building System interfaces with the General Site Transportation System, Site Communications System, Site Water System

Microbial utilisation of natural organic wastes.

PubMed

Ilyin, V K; Smirnov, I A; Soldatov, P E; Korniushenkova, I N; Grinin, A S; Lykov, I N; Safronova, S A

2004-03-01

The waste management strategy for the future should meet the benefits of humanity safety, respect principals of planet ecology, and compatibility with other habitability systems. For these purpose the waste management technologies, relevant to application of the biodegradation properties of bacteria are of great value. The biological treatment method is based upon the biodegradation of organic substances by various microorganisms. The advantage of the biodegradation waste management in general: it allows to diminish the volume of organic wastes, the biological hazard of the wastes is controlled, and this system may be compatible with the other systems. The objectives of our study were: to evaluate effectiveness of microbial biodegradation of non-pretreated substrate, to construct phneumoautomatic digester for organic wastes biodegradation, and to study microbial characteristics of active sludge samples used as inoculi in biodegradation experiment. The technology of vegetable wastes treatment was elaborated in IBMP and BMSTU. For this purpose the special unit was created where the degradation process is activated by enforced reinvention of portions of elaborated biogas into digester. This technology allows to save energy normally used for electromechanical agitation and to create optimal environment for anaerobic bacteria growth. The investigations were performed on waste simulator, which imitates physical and chemical content of food wastes calculated basing on the data on food wastes of moderate Russian city. The volume of created experimental sample of digester is 40 l. The basic system elements of device are digesters, gas receiver, remover of drops and valve monitoring and thermal control system. In our testing we used natural food wastes to measure basic parameters and time of biodegradation process. The diminution rate of organic gained 76% from initial mass taking part within 9 days of fermentation. The biogas production achieved 46 l per 1 kg of substrate

Glasses for immobilization of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laverov, N. P.; Omel'yanenko, B. I.; Yudintsev, S. V.; Stefanovsky, S. V.; Nikonov, B. S.

2013-03-01

Reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) for recovery of fissionable elements is a precondition of long-term development of nuclear energetics. Solution of this problem is hindered by the production of a great amount of liquid waste; 99% of its volume is low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste (LILW). The volume of high-level radioactive waste (HLW), which is characterized by high heat release, does not exceed a fraction of a percent. Solubility of glasses at an elevated temperature makes them unfit for immobilization of HLW, the insulation of which is ensured only by mineral-like matrices. At the same time, glasses are a perfect matrix for LILW, which are distinguished by low heat release. The solubility of borosilicate glass at a low temperature is so low that even a glass with relatively low resistance enables them to retain safety of under-ground LILW depositories without additional engineering barriers. The optimal technology of liquid confinement is their concentration and immobilization in borosilicate glasses, which are disposed in shallow-seated geological repositories. The vitrification of 1 m3 liquid LILW with a salt concentration of ˜300 kg/m3 leaves behind only 0.2 m3 waste, that is, 4-6 times less than by bitumen impregnation and 10 times less than by cementation. Environmental and economic advantages of LILW vitrification result from (1) low solubility of the vitrified LILW in natural water; (2) significant reduction of LILW volume; (3) possibility to dispose the vitrified waste without additional engineering barriers under shallow conditions and in diverse geological media; (4) the strength of glass makes its transportation and storage possible; and finally (5) reliable longterm safety of repositories. When the composition of the glass matrix for LILW is being chosen, attention should be paid to the factors that ensure high technological and economic efficiency of vitrification. The study of vitrified LILW from the Kursk nuclear power plant

[Hospital and environment: waste disposal].

PubMed

Faure, P; Rizzo Padoin, N

2003-11-01

Like all production units, hospitals produce waste and are responsible for waste disposal. Hospital waste is particular due to the environmental risks involved, particularly concerning infection, effluents, and radionucleide contamination. Management plans are required to meet environmental, hygiene and regulatory obligations and to define reference waste products. The first step is to optimize waste sorting, with proper definition of the different categories, adequate containers (collection stations, color-coded sacks), waste circuits, intermediate then central storage areas, and finally transfer to an incineration unit. Volume and delay to elimination must be carefully controlled. Elimination of drugs and related products is a second aspect: packaging, perfusion pouches, tubing, radiopharmaceutic agents. These later products are managed with non-sealed sources whose elimination depends on the radioactive period, requiring selective sorting and specific holding areas while radioactivity declines. Elimination of urine and excreta containing anti-cancer drugs or intravesical drugs, particularly coming from protected rooms using radioactive iodine is another aspect. There is also a marginal flow of unused or expired drugs. For a health establishment, elimination of drugs is not included as part of waste disposal. This requires establishing a specific circuit with selective sorting and carefully applied safety regulations. Market orders for collecting and handling hospital wastes must be implemented in compliance with the rules of Public Health Tenders.

Contaminated waste incinerator modification study. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wolf, F.

1995-08-01

An explosive waste incinerator (EWI) can be installed in the existing Badger AAP Contaminated Waste Processor (CWP). An engineering evaluation of installing a rotary kiln furnace to dispose of waste energetic material has shown the installation to be possible. An extensive literature search was completed to develop the known proven methods of energetic waste disposal. Current incineration practice including thermal treatment alternatives was investigated. Existing and new equipment was reviewed for adequacy. Current CWP operations and hazardous waste to be disposed of were determined. Comparisons were made with other AAP`s EWI.

Managing risks of noncancer health effects at hazardous waste sites: A case study using the Reference Concentration (RfC) of trichloroethylene (TCE).

PubMed

Dourson, Michael L; Gadagbui, Bernard K; Thompson, Rod B; Pfau, Edward J; Lowe, John

2016-10-01

A method for determining a safety range for non-cancer risks is proposed, similar in concept to the range used for cancer in the management of waste sites. This safety range brings transparency to the chemical specific Reference Dose or Concentration by replacing their "order of magnitude" definitions with a scientifically-based range. EPA's multiple RfCs for trichloroethylene (TCE) were evaluated as a case study. For TCE, a multi-endpoint safety range was judged to be 3 μg/m(3) to 30 μg/m,(3) based on a review of kidney effects found in NTP (1988), thymus effects found in Keil et al. (2009) and cardiac effects found in the Johnson et al. (2003) study. This multi-endpoint safety range is derived from studies for which the appropriate averaging time corresponds to different exposure durations, and, therefore, can be applied to both long- and short-term exposures with appropriate consideration of exposure averaging times. For shorter-term exposures, averaging time should be based on the time of cardiac development in humans during fetal growth, an average of approximately 20-25 days. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Implementation of Information Management System for Radiation Safety of Personnel at the Russian Northwest Center for Radioactive Waste Management 'SevRAO' - 13131

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chizhov, K.; Simakov, A.; Seregin, V.

2013-07-01

The report is an overview of the information-analytical system designed to assure radiation safety of workers. The system was implemented in the Northwest Radioactive Waste Management Center 'SevRAO' (which is a branch of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise 'Radioactive Waste Management Enterprise RosRAO'). The center is located in the Northwest Russia. In respect to 'SevRAO', the Federal Medical-Biological Agency is the regulatory body, which deals with issues of radiation control. The main document to regulate radiation control is 'Reference levels of radiation factors in radioactive wastes management center'. This document contains about 250 parameters. We have developed a software toolmore » to simplify control of these parameters. The software includes: input interface, the database, dose calculating module and analytical block. Input interface is used to enter radiation environment data. Dose calculating module calculates the dose on the route. Analytical block optimizes and analyzes radiation situation maps. Much attention is paid to the GUI and graphical representation of results. The operator can enter the route at the industrial site or watch the fluctuations of the dose rate field on the map. Most of the results are presented in a visual form. Here we present some analytical tasks, such as comparison of the dose rate in some point with control levels at this point, to be solved for the purpose of radiation safety control. The program helps to identify points making the largest contribution to the collective dose of the personnel. The tool can automatically calculate the route with the lowest dose, compare and choose the best route. The program uses several options to visualize the radiation environment at the industrial site. This system will be useful for radiation monitoring services during the operation, planning of works and development of scenarios. The paper presents some applications of this system on real data over three years - from March

Waste management barriers in developing country hospitals: Case study and AHP analysis.

PubMed

Delmonico, Diego V de Godoy; Santos, Hugo H Dos; Pinheiro, Marco Ap; de Castro, Rosani; de Souza, Regiane M

2018-01-01

Healthcare waste management is an essential field for both researchers and practitioners. Although there have been few studies using statistical methods for its evaluation, it has been the subject of several studies in different contexts. Furthermore, the known precarious practices for waste management in developing countries raise questions about its potential barriers. This study aims to investigate the barriers in healthcare waste management and their relevance. For this purpose, this paper analyses waste management practices in two Brazilian hospitals by using case study and the Analytic Hierarchy Process method. The barriers were organized into three categories - human factors, management, and infrastructure, and the main findings suggest that cost and employee awareness were the most significant barriers. These results highlight the main barriers to more sustainable waste management, and provide an empirical basis for multi-criteria evaluation of the literature.

Ferrocyanide Safety Program. Quarterly report for the period ending March 31, 1994

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Meacham, J.E.; Cash, R.J.; Dukelow, G.T.

1994-04-01

Various high-level radioactive waste from defense operations has accumulated at the Hanford Site in underground storage tanks since the mid-1940s. During the 1950s, additional tank storage space was required to support the defense mission. To obtain this additional storage volume within a short time period, and to minimize the need for constructing additional storage tanks, Hanford Site scientists developed a process to scavenge {sup 137}Cs from tank waste liquids. In implementing this process, approximately 140 metric tons of ferrocyanide were added to waste that was later routed to some Hanford Site single-shell tanks. The reactive nature of ferrocyanide in themore » presence of an oxidizer has been known for decades, but the conditions under which the compound can undergo endothermic and exothermic reactions have not been thoroughly studied. Because the scavenging process precipitated ferrocyanide from solutions containing nitrate and nitrite, an intimate mixture of ferrocyanides and nitrates and/or nitrites is likely to exist in some regions of the ferrocyanide tanks. This quarterly report provides a status of the activities underway at the Hanford Site on the Ferrocyanide Safety Issue, as requested by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) in their Recommendation 90-7. A revised Ferrocyanide Safety Program Plan addressing the total Ferrocyanide Safety Program, including the six parts of DNFSB Recommendation 90-7, was recently prepared and released in March 1994. Activities in the revised program plan are underway or have been completed, and the status of each is described in Section 4.0 of this report.« less

Assessing the impact of waste picking on musculoskeletal disorders among waste pickers in Mumbai, India: a cross-sectional study

PubMed Central

Singh, Shrikant; Chokhandre, Praveen

2015-01-01

Objective To assess the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) as well as the impact of the occupation of waste picking on complaints of MSDs among waste pickers. The study attempts to understand the risk factors for MSDs in various areas of the body. Design A cross-sectional household survey was conducted using a case-control design. The survey instrument for measuring musculoskeletal symptoms was adopted from a standardised Nordic questionnaire. The impact of the occupation of waste picking on MSDs was analysed using the propensity score matching (PSM) method. Participants The study population consisted of waste pickers (n=200) who had been working for at least a year and a control group (n=213) selected from among or living close to the same communities. Results The 12-month prevalence of MSDs was higher among waste pickers (79%) compared to controls (55%) particularly in the lower back (54–36%), knee (48–35%), upper back (40–21%) and shoulder (32–12%). Similar patterns were observed in the 12-month prevalence of MSDs which prevented normal activity inside and outside the home, particularly for the lower back (36–21%), shoulder (21–7%) and upper back (25–12%) for waste pickers and controls. Analysis of the impact of waste picking on complaints of MSDs suggests that the occupation of waste picking raises the risk of MSDs particularly in the shoulder, lower and upper back. Older age and longer duration of work are significant risk factors for MSDs. Conclusions The findings suggest a relatively higher prevalence of MSDs among waste pickers, particularly in the lower and upper back and shoulder, compared to controls. Preventive measures and treatment to minimise the burden of MSDs among waste pickers are strongly recommended. PMID:26408284

Lessons learned from measuring safety culture: an Australian case study.

PubMed

Allen, Suellen; Chiarella, Mary; Homer, Caroline S E

2010-10-01

adverse events in maternity care are relatively common but often avoidable. International patient safety strategies advocate measuring safety culture as a strategy to improve patient safety. Evidence suggests it is necessary to fully understand the safety culture of an organisation to make improvements to patient safety. this paper reports a case study examining the safety culture in one maternity service in Australia and considers the benefits of using surveys and interviews to understand safety culture as an approach to identify possible strategies to improve patient safety in this setting. the study took place in one maternity service in two public hospitals in NSW, Australia. Concurrently, both hospitals were undergoing an organisational restructure which was part of a major health reform agenda. The priorities of the reform included improving the quality of care and patient safety; and, creating a more efficient health system by reducing administration inefficiencies and duplication. a descriptive case study using three approaches: the safety culture was identified to warrant improvement across all six safety culture domains. There was reduced infrastructure and capacity to support incident management activities required to improve safety, which was influenced by instability from the organisational restructure. There was a perceived lack of leadership at all levels to drive safety and quality and improving the safety culture was neither a key priority nor was it valued by the organisation. the safety culture was complex as was undertaking this study. We were unable to achieve a desired 60% response rate highlighting the limitations of using safety culture surveys in isolation as a strategy to improve safety culture. Qualitative interviews provided greater insight into the factors influencing the safety culture. The findings of this study provide evidence of the benefits of including qualitative methods with quantitative surveys when examining safety culture

EXAFS/XANES studies of plutonium-loaded sodalite/glass waste forms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richmann, Michael K.; Reed, Donald T.; Kropf, A. Jeremy; Aase, Scott B.; Lewis, Michele A.

2001-09-01

A sodalite/glass ceramic waste form is being developed to immobilize highly radioactive nuclear wastes in chloride form, as part of an electrochemical cleanup process. Two types of simulated waste forms were studied: where the plutonium was alone in an LiCl/KCl matrix and where simulated fission-product elements were added representative of the electrometallurgical treatment process used to recover uranium from spent nuclear fuel also containing plutonium and a variety of fission products. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (EXAFS) and X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES) studies were performed to determine the location, oxidation state, and particle size of the plutonium within these waste form samples. Plutonium was found to segregate as plutonium(IV) oxide with a crystallite size of at least 4.8 nm in the non-fission-element case and 1.3 nm with fission elements present. No plutonium was observed within the sodalite in the waste form made from the plutonium-loaded LiCl/KCl eutectic salt. Up to 35% of the plutonium in the waste form made from the plutonium-loaded simulated fission-product salt may be segregated with a heavy-element nearest neighbor other than plutonium or occluded internally within the sodalite lattice.

Factors affecting waste generation: a study in a waste management program in Dhaka City, Bangladesh.

PubMed

Afroz, Rafia; Hanaki, Keisuke; Tudin, Rabaah

2011-08-01

Information on waste generation, socioeconomic characteristics, and willingness of the households to separate waste was obtained from interviews with 402 respondents in Dhaka city. Ordinary least square regression was used to determine the dominant factors that might influence the waste generation of the households. The results showed that the waste generation of the households in Dhaka city was significantly affected by household size, income, concern about the environment, and willingness to separate the waste. These factors are necessary to effectively improve waste management, growth and performance, as well as to reduce the environmental degradation of the household waste.

The Microscale Inorganic Laboratory: Safety, Economy and Versatility.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Szafran, Zvi; And Others

1989-01-01

Discussed are four major advantages to the use of microscale laboratories for teaching chemistry. Included are effects on waste generation, laboratory safety, reagent variety, and laboratory efficiency. (CW)

Disaster waste management in Italy: Analysis of recent case studies.

PubMed

Gabrielli, Francesco; Amato, Alessia; Balducci, Susanna; Magi Galluzzi, Lorenzo; Beolchini, Francesca

2018-01-01

The geomorphology of the Italian territory causes the incidence of many disasters like earthquakes and floods, with the consequent production of large volumes of waste. The management of such huge flows, produced in a very short time, may have a high impact on the whole emergency response. Moreover, historical data related to disaster waste management are often not easily accessible; on the other hand, the availability of data concerning previous events could support the emergency managers, that have to take a decision in a very short time. In this context, the present paper analyses four relevant recent case studies in Italy, dealing with disaster waste management after geologic and hydrologic natural events. Significant differences have been observed in the quantity and types of generated wastes, and, also, in the management approach. Such differences are mainly associated with the kind of disaster (i.e. earthquake vs. flood), to the geographical location (i.e. internal vs. coastal area), to the urbanisation level (i.e. industrial vs. urban). The study allowed the identification of both strengths and weaknesses of the applied waste management strategies, that represent "lessons to learn" for future scenarios. Even though it deals with Italian case studies, this manuscript may have a high impact also at international level, making available for the first-time emergency waste management data, that are considered an indispensable support for decision makers. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Health care waste management of potentially infectious medical waste by healthcare professionals in a private medical practice: a study of practices].

PubMed

Brunot, Alain; Thompson, Céline

2010-01-01

A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 278 health professionals (GPs and specialists, dentists, physical therapists and nurses) in a private medical practice in Paris to study the medical waste management practices related to the production and disposal of potentially hazardous health care waste. With the exception of physical therapists, most professionals produced medical waste (72% to 96,2% according to occupation), with a monthly median of 3 liters (inter-quartile range 1-15 liters). All sharp objects and needles were separated and 91% of them eliminated via a specific process for that sector. These percentages were respectively 84% and 69% concerning contaminated waste that was neither needles or used for cutting. 48% of the professionals reported the existence of documents that could track the disposal of their medical waste. To improve practice, professionals cited collection on-site at the office (74%) and reliability of the contracted service provider to collect the waste (59%). The study showed that health professionals need information on the regulations regarding potentially infectious medical waste, in particular on the traceability of its elimination. They also noted the lack of clarity and precision with regard to the definition of risk of infection: 31,7% of professionals only declare the production of sharp or cutting waste without having specified criteria for risk of infection.

A case-study of landfill minimization and material recovery via waste co-gasification in a new waste management scheme.

PubMed

Tanigaki, Nobuhiro; Ishida, Yoshihiro; Osada, Morihiro

2015-03-01

This study evaluates municipal solid waste co-gasification technology and a new solid waste management scheme, which can minimize final landfill amounts and maximize material recycled from waste. This new scheme is considered for a region where bottom ash and incombustibles are landfilled or not allowed to be recycled due to their toxic heavy metal concentration. Waste is processed with incombustible residues and an incineration bottom ash discharged from existent conventional incinerators, using a gasification and melting technology (the Direct Melting System). The inert materials, contained in municipal solid waste, incombustibles and bottom ash, are recycled as slag and metal in this process as well as energy recovery. Based on this new waste management scheme with a co-gasification system, a case study of municipal solid waste co-gasification was evaluated and compared with other technical solutions, such as conventional incineration, incineration with an ash melting facility under certain boundary conditions. From a technical point of view, co-gasification produced high quality slag with few harmful heavy metals, which was recycled completely without requiring any further post-treatment such as aging. As a consequence, the co-gasification system had an economical advantage over other systems because of its material recovery and minimization of the final landfill amount. Sensitivity analyses of landfill cost, power price and inert materials in waste were also conducted. The higher the landfill costs, the greater the advantage of the co-gasification system has. The co-gasification was beneficial for landfill cost in the range of 80 Euro per ton or more. Higher power prices led to lower operation cost in each case. The inert contents in processed waste had a significant influence on the operating cost. These results indicate that co-gasification of bottom ash and incombustibles with municipal solid waste contributes to minimizing the final landfill amount and has

Development of consistent hazard controls for DOE transuranic waste operations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Woody, W.J.

2007-07-01

This paper describes the results of a re-engineering initiative undertaken with the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) in order to standardize hazard analysis assumptions and methods and resulting safety controls applied to multiple transuranic (TRU) waste operations located across the United States. A wide range of safety controls are historically applied to transuranic waste operations, in spite of the fact that these operations have similar operational characteristics and hazard/accident potential. The re-engineering effort supported the development of a DOE technical standard with specific safety controls designated for accidents postulated during waste container retrieval, staging/storage, venting, onsitemore » movements, and characterization activities. Controls cover preventive and mitigative measures; include both hardware and specific administrative controls; and provide protection to the facility worker, onsite co-located workers and the general public located outside of facility boundaries. The Standard development involved participation from all major DOE sites conducting TRU waste operations. Both safety analysts and operations personnel contributed to the re-engineering effort. Acknowledgment is given in particular to the following individuals who formed a core working group: Brenda Hawks, (DOE Oak Ridge Office), Patrice McEahern (CWI-Idaho), Jofu Mishima (Consultant), Louis Restrepo (Omicron), Jay Mullis (DOE-ORO), Mike Hitchler (WSMS), John Menna (WSMS), Jackie East (WSMS), Terry Foppe (CTAC), Carla Mewhinney (WIPP-SNL), Stephie Jennings (WIPP-LANL), Michael Mikolanis (DOESRS), Kraig Wendt (BBWI-Idaho), Lee Roberts (Fluor Hanford), and Jim Blankenhorn (WSRC). Additional acknowledgment is given to Dae Chung (EM) and Ines Triay (EM) for leadership and management of the re-engineering effort. (authors)« less

The Management of the Radioactive Waste Generated by Cernavoda NPP, Romania, an Example of International Cooperation - 13449

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barariu, Gheorghe

2013-07-01

The design criteria and constraints for the development of the management strategy for radioactive waste generated from operating and decommissioning of CANDU Nuclear Units from Cernavoda NPP in Romania, present many specific aspects. The main characteristics of CANDU type waste are its high concentrations of tritium and radiocarbon. Also, the existing management strategy for radioactive waste at Cernavoda NPP provides no treatment or conditioning for radioactive waste disposal. These characteristics embodied a challenging effort, in order to select a proper strategy for radioactive waste management at present, when Romania is an EU member and a signatory country of the Jointmore » Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management. The helping of advanced countries in radioactive waste management, directly or into the frame of the international organizations, like IAEA, become solve the aforementioned challenges at adequate level. (authors)« less

29 CFR 1926.65 - Hazardous waste operations and emergency response.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 29 Labor 8 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Hazardous waste operations and emergency response. 1926.65 Section 1926.65 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (CONTINUED) SAFETY AND HEALTH REGULATIONS FOR CONSTRUCTION Occupational Health and Environmental Controls § 1926.65...

29 CFR 1926.65 - Hazardous waste operations and emergency response.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 29 Labor 8 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Hazardous waste operations and emergency response. 1926.65 Section 1926.65 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (CONTINUED) SAFETY AND HEALTH REGULATIONS FOR CONSTRUCTION Occupational Health and Environmental Controls § 1926.65...

29 CFR 1926.65 - Hazardous waste operations and emergency response.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 29 Labor 8 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Hazardous waste operations and emergency response. 1926.65 Section 1926.65 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (CONTINUED) SAFETY AND HEALTH REGULATIONS FOR CONSTRUCTION Occupational Health and Environmental Controls § 1926.65...

Oxidation and waste-to-energy output of aluminium waste packaging during incineration: A laboratory study.

PubMed

López, Félix A; Román, Carlos Pérez; García-Díaz, Irene; Alguacil, Francisco J

2015-09-01

This work reports the oxidation behaviour and waste-to-energy output of different semi-rigid and flexible aluminium packagings when incinerated at 850°C in an air atmosphere enriched with 6% oxygen, in the laboratory setting. The physical properties of the different packagings were determined, including their metallic aluminium contents. The ash contents of their combustion products were determined according to standard BS ISO 1171:2010. The net calorific value, the required energy, and the calorific gain associated with each packaging type were determined following standard BS EN 13431:2004. Packagings with an aluminium lamina thickness of >50μm did not fully oxidise. During incineration, the weight-for-weight waste-to-energy output of the packagings with thick aluminium lamina was lower than that of packagings with thin lamina. The calorific gain depended on the degree of oxidation of the metallic aluminium, but was greater than zero for all the packagings studied. Waste aluminium may therefore be said to act as an energy source in municipal solid waste incineration systems. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Application of life cycle assessment for hospital solid waste management: A case study.

PubMed

Ali, Mustafa; Wang, Wenping; Chaudhry, Nawaz

2016-10-01

This study was meant to determine environmental aspects of hospital waste management scenarios using a life cycle analysis approach. The survey for this study was conducted at the largest hospital in a major city of Pakistan. The hospital was thoroughly analyzed from November 2014 to January 2015 to quantify its wastes by category. The functional unit of the study was selected as 1 tonne of disposable solid hospital waste. System boundaries included transportation of hospital solid waste and its treatment and disposal by landfilling, incineration, composting, and material recycling methods. These methods were evaluated based on their greenhouse gas emissions. Landfilling and incineration turned out to be the worst final disposal alternatives, whereas composting and material recovery displayed savings in emissions. An integrated system (composting, incineration, and material recycling) was found as the best solution among the evaluated scenarios. This study can be used by policymakers for the formulation of an integrated hospital waste management plan. This study deals with environmental aspects of hospital waste management scenarios. It is an increasing area of concern in many developing and resource-constrained countries of the world. The life cycle analysis (LCA) approach is a useful tool for estimation of greenhouse gas emissions from different waste management activities. There is a shortage of information in existing literature regarding LCA of hospital wastes. To the best knowledge of the authors this work is the first attempt at quantifying the environmental footprint of hospital waste in Pakistan.

Solid Waste Reduction--A Hands-on Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wiessinger, Diane

1991-01-01

This lesson plan uses grocery shopping to demonstrate the importance of source reduction in the handling of solid waste problems. Students consider different priorities in shopping (convenience, packaging, and waste reduction) and draw conclusions about the relationship between packaging techniques and solid waste problems. (MCO)

White Paper on studying the safety of the childhood immunization schedule in the Vaccine Safety Datalink.

PubMed

Glanz, Jason M; Newcomer, Sophia R; Jackson, Michael L; Omer, Saad B; Bednarczyk, Robert A; Shoup, Jo Ann; DeStefano, Frank; Daley, Matthew F

2016-02-15

While the large majority of parents in the U.S. vaccinate their children according to the recommended immunization schedule, some parents have refused or delayed vaccinating, often citing safety concerns. In response to public concern, the U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM) evaluated existing research regarding the safety of the recommended immunization schedule. The IOM concluded that although available evidence strongly supported the safety of the currently recommended schedule as a whole, additional observational research was warranted to compare health outcomes between fully vaccinated children and those on a delayed or alternative schedule. In addition, the IOM identified the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) as an important resource for conducting this research. Guided by the IOM findings, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) commissioned a White Paper to assess how the VSD could be used to study the safety of the childhood immunization schedule. Guided by subject matter expert engagement, the resulting White Paper outlines a 4 stage approach for identifying exposure groups of undervaccinated children, presents a list of health outcomes of highest priority to examine in this context, and describes various study designs and statistical methods that could be used to analyze the safety of the schedule. While it appears feasible to study the safety of the recommended immunization schedule in settings such as the VSD, these studies will be inherently complex, and as with all observational studies, will need to carefully address issues of confounding and bias. In light of these considerations, decisions about conducting studies of the safety of the schedule will also need to assess epidemiological evidence of potential adverse events that could be related to the schedule, the biological plausibility of an association between an adverse event and the schedule, and public concern about the safety of the schedule. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights

Radon exposure at a radioactive waste storage facility.

PubMed

Manocchi, F H; Campos, M P; Dellamano, J C; Silva, G M

2014-06-01

The Waste Management Department of Nuclear and Energy Research Institute (IPEN) is responsible for the safety management of the waste generated at all internal research centers and that of other waste producers such as industry, medical facilities, and universities in Brazil. These waste materials, after treatment, are placed in an interim storage facility. Among them are (226)Ra needles used in radiotherapy, siliceous cake arising from conversion processes, and several other classes of waste from the nuclear fuel cycle, which contain Ra-226 producing (222)Rn gas daughter.In order to estimate the effective dose for workers due to radon inhalation, the radon concentration at the storage facility has been assessed within this study. Radon measurements have been carried out through the passive method with solid-state nuclear track detectors (CR-39) over a period of nine months, changing detectors every month in order to determine the long-term average levels of indoor radon concentrations. The radon concentration results, covering the period from June 2012 to March 2013, varied from 0.55 ± 0.05 to 5.19 ± 0.45 kBq m(-3). The effective dose due to (222)Rn inhalation was further assessed following ICRP Publication 65.

The combined hybrid system: A symbiotic thermal reactor/fast reactor system for power generation and radioactive waste toxicity reduction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hollaway, W.R.

1991-08-01

If there is to be a next generation of nuclear power in the United States, then the four fundamental obstacles confronting nuclear power technology must be overcome: safety, cost, waste management, and proliferation resistance. The Combined Hybrid System (CHS) is proposed as a possible solution to the problems preventing a vigorous resurgence of nuclear power. The CHS combines Thermal Reactors (for operability, safety, and cost) and Integral Fast Reactors (for waste treatment and actinide burning) in a symbiotic large scale system. The CHS addresses the safety and cost issues through the use of advanced reactor designs, the waste management issuemore » through the use of actinide burning, and the proliferation resistance issue through the use of an integral fuel cycle with co-located components. There are nine major components in the Combined Hybrid System linked by nineteen nuclear material mass flow streams. A computer code, CHASM, is used to analyze the mass flow rates CHS, and the reactor support ratio (the ratio of thermal/fast reactors), IFR of the system. The primary advantages of the CHS are its essentially actinide-free high-level radioactive waste, plus improved reactor safety, uranium utilization, and widening of the option base. The primary disadvantages of the CHS are the large capacity of IFRs required (approximately one MW{sub e} IFR capacity for every three MW{sub e} Thermal Reactor) and the novel radioactive waste streams produced by the CHS. The capability of the IFR to burn pure transuranic fuel, a primary assumption of this study, has yet to be proven. The Combined Hybrid System represents an attractive option for future nuclear power development; that disposal of the essentially actinide-free radioactive waste produced by the CHS provides an excellent alternative to the disposal of intact actinide-bearing Light Water Reactor spent fuel (reducing the toxicity based lifetime of the waste from roughly 360,000 years to about 510 years).« less

Industrial Program of Waste Management - Cigeo Project - 13033

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Butez, Marc; Bartagnon, Olivier; Gagner, Laurent

2013-07-01

The French Planning Act of 28 June 2006 prescribed that a reversible repository in a deep geological formation be chosen as the reference solution for the long-term management of high-level and intermediate-level long-lived radioactive waste. It also entrusted the responsibility of further studies and design of the repository (named Cigeo) upon the French Radioactive Waste Management Agency (Andra), in order for the review of the creation-license application to start in 2015 and, subject to its approval, the commissioning of the repository to take place in 2025. Andra is responsible for siting, designing, implementing, operating the future geological repository, including operationalmore » and long term safety and waste acceptance. Nuclear operators (Electricite de France (EDF), AREVA NC, and the French Commission in charge of Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies (CEA) are technically and financially responsible for the waste they generate, with no limit in time. They provide Andra, on one hand, with waste packages related input data, and on the other hand with their long term industrial experiences of high and intermediate-level long-lived radwaste management and nuclear operation. Andra, EDF, AREVA and CEA established a cooperation agreement for strengthening their collaborations in these fields. Within this agreement Andra and the nuclear operators have defined an industrial program for waste management. This program includes the waste inventory to be taken into account for the design of the Cigeo project and the structural hypothesis underlying its phased development. It schedules the delivery of the different categories of waste and defines associated flows. (authors)« less

Current perspectives on biomedical waste management: Rules, conventions and treatment technologies.

PubMed

Capoor, Malini R; Bhowmik, Kumar Tapas

2017-01-01

Unregulated biomedical waste management (BMWM) is a public health problem. This has posed a grave threat to not only human health and safety but also to the environment for the current and future generations. Safe and reliable methods for handling of biomedical waste (BMW) are of paramount importance. Effective BMWM is not only a legal necessity but also a social responsibility. This article reviews the current perspectives on BMWM and rules, conventions and the treatment technologies used worldwide. BMWM should ideally be the subject of a national strategy with dedicated infrastructure, cradle-to-grave legislation, competent regulatory authority and trained personnel. Improving the management of biomedical waste begins with waste minimisation. These standards, norms and rules on BMWM in a country regulate the disposal of various categories of BMW to ensure the safety of the health-care workers, patients, public and environment. Furthermore, developing models for the monitoring of hospital health-care waste practices and research into non-burn eco-friendly sustainable technologies, recycling and polyvinyl chloride-free devices will go in long way for safe carbon environment. Globally, greater research in BMWM is warranted to understand its growing field of public health importance.

A study of tritium in municipal solid waste leachate and gas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mutch Jr, R. D.; Manhattan College, Riverdale, NY; Columbia Univ., New York, NY

2008-07-15

It has become increasingly clear in the last few years that the vast majority of municipal solid waste landfills produce leachate that contains elevated levels of tritium. The authors recently conducted a study of landfills in New York and New Jersey and found that the mean concentration of tritium in the leachate from ten municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills was 33,800 pCi/L with a peak value of 192,000 pCi/L. A 2003 study in California reported a mean tritium concentration of 99,000 pCi/L with a peak value of 304,000 pCi/L. Studies in Pennsylvania and the UK produced similar results. The USEPAmore » MCL for tritium is 20,000 pCi/L. Tritium is also manifesting itself as landfill gas and landfill gas condensate. Landfill gas condensate samples from landfills in the UK and California were found to have tritium concentrations as high as 54,400 and 513,000 pCi/L, respectively. The tritium found in MSW leachate is believed to derive principally from gaseous tritium lighting devices used in some emergency exit signs, compasses, watches, and even novelty items, such as 'glow stick' key chains. This study reports the findings of recent surveys of leachate from a number of municipal solid waste landfills, both open and closed, from throughout the United States and Europe. The study evaluates the human health and ecological risks posed by elevated tritium levels in municipal solid waste leachate and landfill gas and the implications to their safe management. We also assess the potential risks posed to solid waste management facility workers exposed to tritium-containing waste materials in transfer stations and other solid waste management facilities. (authors)« less

78 FR 56235 - Safety and Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-12

... delivery of occupational safety and health services, and the prevention of work-related injury and illness... Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH or... occupational safety and health, and allied areas. It is the intent of NIOSH to support broad-based research...

78 FR 24751 - Safety and Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-26

... improvements in the delivery of occupational safety and health services, and the prevention of work-related... Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH or... issues in occupational safety and health, and allied areas. It is the intent of NIOSH to support broad...

Managing resources and reducing waste in healthcare settings.

PubMed

Minogue, Virginia; Wells, Bill

2016-05-18

The NHS is under pressure to increase its effectiveness and productivity. Nurses are tasked with delivering effective and efficient care, as well as improving patient safety, experiences and results. The reduction of waste in service delivery, care and treatment can release time and resources for nurses to engage in direct patient care. Nurses have an important role in reducing waste and influencing other professionals in the healthcare environment to increase their efficiency and productivity.

Laboratory plant study on the melting process of asbestos waste

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sakai, Shinichi; Terazono, Atsushi; Takatsuki, Hiroshi

The melting process was studied as a method of changing asbestos into non-hazardous waste and recovering it as a reusable resource. In an initial effort, the thermal behaviors of asbestos waste in terms of physical and chemical structure have been studied. Then, 10 kg/h-scale laboratory plant experiments were carried out. By X-ray diffraction analysis, the thermal behaviors of sprayed-on asbestos waste revealed that chrysotile asbestos waste change in crystal structure at around 800 C, and becomes melted slag, mainly composed of magnesium silicate, at around 1,500 C. Laboratory plant experiments on the melting process of sprayed-on asbestos have shown thatmore » melted slag can be obtained. X-ray diffraction analysis of the melted slag revealed crystal structure change, and SEM analysis showed the slag to have a non-fibrous form. And more, TEM analysis proved the very high treatment efficiency of the process, that is, reduction of the asbestos content to 1/10{sup 6} as a weight basis. These analytical results indicate the effectiveness of the melting process for asbestos waste treatment.« less

[Hazardous material and safety conditions in veterinary practice. 2: Flammable liquid, disinfectants and cleansing media, cytostatics, pressurized gases, liquid nitrogen, narcotic gases, mailing of diagnostic samples, hazardous waste].

PubMed

Sliwinski-Korell, A; Lutz, F

1998-05-01

In the last years the standards for professional handling of hazardous material as well as health and safety in the veterinary practice became considerably more stringent. This is expressed in various safety regulations, particularly the decree of hazardous material and the legislative directives concerning health and safety at work. In part 1, a definition based on the law for hazardous material was given and the potential risks were mentioned. The correct documentation regarding the protection of personal and the purchase, storage, working conditions and removal of hazardous material was explained. General rules for the handling of hazardous material were described. In part 2, partial emphasis is put on the handling of flammable liquids, disinfectants, cytostatica, pressurised gases, liquid nitrogen, narcotics, mailing of potentially infectious material and safe disposal of hazardous waste. Advice about possible unrecognized hazards and references are also given.

Preliminary risk assessment for nuclear waste disposal in space, volume 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rice, E. E.; Denning, R. S.; Friedlander, A. L.

1982-01-01

Safety guidelines are presented. Waste form, waste processing and payload fabrication facilities, shipping casks and ground transport vehicles, payload primary container/core, radiation shield, reentry systems, launch site facilities, uprooted space shuttle launch vehicle, Earth packing orbits, orbit transfer systems, and space destination are discussed. Disposed concepts and risks are then discussed.

78 FR 60218 - Safety Zone; Old Mormon Slough, Stockton, CA

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-01

... decontaminate soil, groundwater, and sediment in Old Mormon Slough and the surrounding basin. This safety zone... safety zone in Old Mormon Slough to further the efforts of the EPA to rehabilitate soil, sediment, and... water collection ponds. The unlined oily waste ponds were closed in 1981. Sampling has shown that soils...

The influence of farmland pollution on the quality and safety of agricultural products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Z. L.; Li, L. Y.; Ye, C.; Lin, X. Y.; B, C.; Wei

2018-02-01

The quality and safety of agricultural products is not only a major livelihood issues for people’s health, but also the main barriers to international trade of agricultural products nowadays. The soil is the foundation to the production of agricultural products and the guarantee of agricultural development. The farmland soil quality is directly related to the quality and safety of agricultural products. Our country’s soil has been polluted by a series of pollution, Such as the excessive discharge of industrial wastes, the encroachment of household waste, and the unreasonable use of pesticides and fertilizers. Soil degradation is a serious threat to the quality and safety of agricultural products, so eliminating soil degradation is the fundamental way out for quality and safety of agricultural products. By analyzing problems of the quality and safety of agricultural products in our country, and exploring the farmland soil influence on the quality and safety of agricultural products. This article provides a reference for improving the control level of quality and safety of agricultural products and the farmland soil quality.

Management of radioactive waste in Belgium: ONDRAF/NIRAS and Belgoprocess as major actors of the waste acceptance system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zaelen, Gunter van; Verheyen, Annick

2007-07-01

The management of radioactive waste in Belgium is undertaken by the national agency for radioactive waste and enriched fissile materials, ONDRAF/NIRAS, and its industrial partner Belgoprocess. ONDRAF/NIRAS has set up a management system designed to guarantee that the general public and the environment are protected against the potential hazards arising from radioactive waste. Belgoprocess is a private company, founded in 1984 and located in Dessel, Belgium. It is a subsidiary of ONDRAF/NIRAS and its activities focus on the safe processing and storage of radioactive waste. The management system of ONDRAF/NIRAS includes two aspects: a) an integrated system and b) anmore » acceptance system. The integrated system covers all aspects of management ranging from the origin of waste to its transport, processing, interim storage and long-term management. The safety of radioactive waste management not only depends on the quality of the design and construction of the processing, temporary storage or disposal infrastructure, but also on the quality of the waste accepted by ONDRAF/NIRAS. In order to be manage d safely, both in the short and the long term, the waste transferred to ONDRAF/NIRAS must meet certain specific requirements. To that end, ONDRAF/NIRAS has developed an acceptance system. (authors)« less

Potential reuse of small household waste electrical and electronic equipment: Methodology and case study.

PubMed

Bovea, María D; Ibáñez-Forés, Valeria; Pérez-Belis, Victoria; Quemades-Beltrán, Pilar

2016-07-01

This study proposes a general methodology for assessing and estimating the potential reuse of small waste electrical and electronic equipment (sWEEE), focusing on devices classified as domestic appliances. Specific tests for visual inspection, function and safety have been defined for ten different types of household appliances (vacuum cleaner, iron, microwave, toaster, sandwich maker, hand blender, juicer, boiler, heater and hair dryer). After applying the tests, reuse protocols have been defined in the form of easy-to-apply checklists for each of the ten types of appliance evaluated. This methodology could be useful for reuse enterprises, since there is a lack of specific protocols, adapted to each type of appliance, to test its potential of reuse. After applying the methodology, electrical and electronic appliances (used or waste) can be segregated into three categories: the appliance works properly and can be classified as direct reuse (items can be used by a second consumer without prior repair operations), the appliance requires a later evaluation of its potential refurbishment and repair (restoration of products to working order, although with possible loss of quality) or the appliance needs to be finally discarded from the reuse process and goes directly to a recycling process. Results after applying the methodology to a sample of 87.7kg (96 units) show that 30.2% of the appliances have no potential for reuse and should be diverted for recycling, while 67.7% require a subsequent evaluation of their potential refurbishment and repair, and only 2.1% of them could be directly reused with minor cleaning operations. This study represents a first approach to the "preparation for reuse" strategy that the European Directive related to Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment encourages to be applied. However, more research needs to be done as an extension of this study, mainly related to the identification of the feasibility of repair or refurbishment operations

WASTE MINIMIZATION AUDIT REPORT: CASE STUDIES OF MINIMIZATION OF CYANIDE WASTE FROM ELECTROPLATING OPERATIONS

EPA Science Inventory

To promote waste minimization activities in accordance with the national policy objectives established under the 1984 Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA), the Hazardous Waste Engineering Research Laboratory (HWERL) of ...

Reducing construction waste: A study of urban infrastructure projects.

PubMed

de Magalhães, Ruane Fernandes; Danilevicz, Ângela de Moura Ferreira; Saurin, Tarcisio Abreu

2017-09-01

The construction industry is well-known for producing waste detrimental to the environment, and its impacts have increased with the development process of cities. Although there are several studies focused on the environmental impact of residential and commercial buildings, less knowledge is available regarding decreasing construction waste (CW) generation in urban infrastructure projects. This study presents best practices to reduce waste in the said projects, stressing the role of decision-making in the design stage and the effective management of construction processes in public sector. The best practices were identified from literature review, document analysis in 14 projects of urban infrastructure, and both qualitative and quantitative survey with 18 experts (architects and engineers) playing different roles on those projects. The contributions of these research are: (i) the identification of the main building techniques related to the urban design typologies analyzed; (ii) the identification of cause-effect relationships between the design choices and the CW generation diagnosis; (iii) the proposal of a checklist to support the decision-making process, that can be used as a control and evaluation instrument when developing urban infrastructure designs, focused on the construction waste minimization (CWM). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

General Chemistry for Waste Handlers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sixtus, Michael E.

This manual is intended for use in presenting a course which provides the content-specific general chemistry education required for the safety awareness and job enhancement of persons employed as waste handlers. The course, which was designed to be delivered to technicians at job sites in a lecture/demonstration format with several hands-on…

High-level waste tank farm set point document

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Anthony, J.A. III

1995-01-15

Setpoints for nuclear safety-related instrumentation are required for actions determined by the design authorization basis. Minimum requirements need to be established for assuring that setpoints are established and held within specified limits. This document establishes the controlling methodology for changing setpoints of all classifications. The instrumentation under consideration involve the transfer, storage, and volume reduction of radioactive liquid waste in the F- and H-Area High-Level Radioactive Waste Tank Farms. The setpoint document will encompass the PROCESS AREA listed in the Safety Analysis Report (SAR) (DPSTSA-200-10 Sup 18) which includes the diversion box HDB-8 facility. In addition to the PROCESS AREASmore » listed in the SAR, Building 299-H and the Effluent Transfer Facility (ETF) are also included in the scope.« less

Systematic review of reusable versus disposable laparoscopic instruments: costs and safety.

PubMed

Siu, Joey; Hill, Andrew G; MacCormick, Andrew D

2017-01-01

The quality of instruments and surgical expertise in minimally invasive surgery has developed markedly in the last two decades. Attention is now being turned to ways to allow surgeons to adopt more cost-effective and environmental-friendly approaches. This review explores current evidence on the cost and environmental impact of reusable versus single-use instruments. In addition, we aim to compare their quality, functionality and associated clinical outcomes. The Medline and EMBASE databases were searched for relevant literature from January 2000 to May 2015. Subject headings were Equipment Reuse/, Disposable Equipment/, Cholecystectomy/, Laparoscopic/, Laparoscopy/, Surgical Instruments/, Medical Waste Disposal/, Waste Management/, Medical Waste/, Environmental Sustainability/ and Sterilization/. There are few objective comparative analyses between single-use versus reusable instruments. Current evidence suggests that limiting use of disposal instruments to necessity may hold both economical and environmental advantages. Theoretical advantages of single-use instruments in quality, safety, sterility, ease of use and importantly patient outcomes have rarely been examined. Cost-saving methods, environmental-friendly methods, global operative costs, hidden costs, sterilization methods and quality assurance systems vary greatly between studies making it difficult to gain an overview of the comparison between single-use and reusable instruments. Further examination of cost comparisons between disposable and reusable instruments is necessary while externalized environmental costs, instrument function and safety are also important to consider in future studies. © 2016 Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE CHARACTERIZATION STUDY FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA - A MITE PROGRAM EVALUATION

EPA Science Inventory

The objectives of the Household Hazardous Waste Characterization Study (the HHW Study) were to: 1) Quantity the annual household hazardous waste (HHW) tonnages disposed in Palm Beach County Florida’s (the County) residential solid waste (characterized in this study as municipal s...

Solid Waste Composition Study at Taman Universiti, Parit Raja, Batu Pahat

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kadir, A. A.; Sani, M. S. A. M.

2016-07-01

Solid waste management is recognised as one of the most challenging issues confronted by both the developed and developing countries. The problems rise due to growing population in current years which results in increased generation of waste with various compositions. The aim of this study was to determine the waste compositions at Taman Universiti. Taman Universiti is a mix residential and commercial area which a preferred residential location amongst students and lecturers due to its proximate location to UTHM main campus. The waste collection was carried out for 50 houses on a daily basis. The collection and sorting out method was conducted according to Malaysian Standard MS 2505:2012 and the data was collected and recorded The result showed that the average generation rate of household waste at Taman Universiti was 0.16kg/person/day and the moisture content was approximately ranging from 61%-68%. Household wastes collected were categorized and it consisted of food and organic, paper, rigid plastics, plastics film, baby diapers, glass, tetra pak, household hazardous waste, metal, rubber, textiles, garden waste and leather. The proportion of each wastes were approximately 64.67%, 9.36%, 9.22%, 5.33%, 3.51%, 2.53%, 1.37%, 1.05%, 0.84%, 0.85%, 0.80%, 0.27%, and 0.23%, respectively. Results from the analyses indicated that the food and organic waste are the major composition of household waste at Taman Universiti followed by the paper, rigid plastics, and plastic film. Meanwhile, the proportion of baby diapers, glass, tetra pak, household hazardous waste, metal, rubber, textiles, and garden decreasing accordingly. In addition, leather was recognized as the least category that contributed to the household waste.

Final waste forms project: Performance criteria for phase I treatability studies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gilliam, T.M.; Hutchins, D.A.; Chodak, P. III

1994-06-01

This document defines the product performance criteria to be used in Phase I of the Final Waste Forms Project. In Phase I, treatability studies will be performed to provide {open_quotes}proof-of-principle{close_quotes} data to establish the viability of stabilization/solidification (S/S) technologies. This information is required by March 1995. In Phase II, further treatability studies, some at the pilot scale, will be performed to provide sufficient data to allow treatment alternatives identified in Phase I to be more fully developed and evaluated, as well as to reduce performance uncertainties for those methods chosen to treat a specific waste. Three main factors influence themore » development and selection of an optimum waste form formulation and hence affect selection of performance criteria. These factors are regulatory, process-specific, and site-specific waste form standards or requirements. Clearly, the optimum waste form formulation will require consideration of performance criteria constraints from each of the three categories. Phase I will focus only on the regulatory criteria. These criteria may be considered the minimum criteria for an acceptable waste form. In other words, a S/S technology is considered viable only if it meet applicable regulatory criteria. The criteria to be utilized in the Phase I treatability studies were primarily taken from Environmental Protection Agency regulations addressed in 40 CFR 260 through 265 and 268; and Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations addressed in 10 CFR 61. Thus the majority of the identified criteria are independent of waste form matrix composition (i.e., applicable to cement, glass, organic binders etc.).« less

A calorimetric and microstructural study of solidified toxic wastes. Part 1: A classification of OPC/waste interference effects

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hills, C.D.; Sollars, C.J.; Perry, R.

1994-01-01

Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) has been used to solidify hazardous waste for about 25 years. The effects of waste components on the hydraulic activity of his binder have been subject to increasing research. Under certain circumstances, as yet to be defined, the hydration reactions thought responsible for solidification can be poisoned and appear to be retarded indefinitely. In this study, a number of wastes known to be capable of poisoning hydration were added to OPC and the effects were examined by conduction calorimetry and microstructural analysis techniques. A comparison of results showed that it was possible to classify waste/OPC interactionsmore » by phase development and the heat of hydration evolved. During the second part of this work, which is reported separately, the individual wastes were characterized, and the individual components identified as significant were added to OPC in single and combined additions. A comparison of results showed that it was possible to reproduce the poisoning effects observed.« less

Food waste quantification in primary production - The Nordic countries as a case study.

PubMed

Hartikainen, Hanna; Mogensen, Lisbeth; Svanes, Erik; Franke, Ulrika

2018-01-01

Our understanding of food waste in the food supply chain has increased, but very few studies have been published on food waste in primary production. The overall aims of this study were to quantify the total amount of food waste in primary production in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and to create a framework for how to define and quantify food waste in primary production. The quantification of food waste was based on case studies conducted in the present study and estimates published in scientific literature. The chosen scope of the study was to quantify the amount of edible food (excluding inedible parts like peels and bones) produced for human consumption that did not end up as food. As a result, the quantification was different from the existing guidelines. One of the main differences is that food that ends up as animal feed is included in the present study, whereas this is not the case for the recently launched food waste definition of the FUSIONS project. To distinguish the 'food waste' definition of the present study from the existing definitions and to avoid confusion with established usage of the term, a new term 'side flow' (SF) was introduced as a synonym for food waste in primary production. A rough estimate of the total amount of food waste in primary production in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark was made using SF and 'FUSIONS Food Waste' (FFW) definitions. The SFs in primary production in the four Nordic countries were an estimated 800,000 tonnes per year with an additional 100,000 tonnes per year from the rearing phase of animals. The 900,000 tonnes per year of SF corresponds to 3.7% of the total production of 24,000,000 tonnes per year of edible primary products. When using the FFW definition proposed by the FUSIONS project, the FFW amount was estimated at 330,000 tonnes per year, or 1% of the total production. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessment of remote sensing technologies to discover and characterize waste sites

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1992-03-11

This report presents details about waste management practices that are being developed using remote sensing techniques to characterize DOE waste sites. Once the sites and problems have been located and characterized and an achievable restoration and remediation program have been established, efforts to reclaim the environment will begin. Special problems to be considered are: concentrated waste forms in tanks and pits; soil and ground water contamination; ground safety hazards for workers; and requirement for long-term monitoring.

A case-study of landfill minimization and material recovery via waste co-gasification in a new waste management scheme

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tanigaki, Nobuhiro, E-mail: tanigaki.nobuhiro@eng.nssmc.com; Ishida, Yoshihiro; Osada, Morihiro

Highlights: • A new waste management scheme and the effects of co-gasification of MSW were assessed. • A co-gasification system was compared with other conventional systems. • The co-gasification system can produce slag and metal with high-quality. • The co-gasification system showed an economic advantage when bottom ash is landfilled. • The sensitive analyses indicate an economic advantage when the landfill cost is high. - Abstract: This study evaluates municipal solid waste co-gasification technology and a new solid waste management scheme, which can minimize final landfill amounts and maximize material recycled from waste. This new scheme is considered for amore » region where bottom ash and incombustibles are landfilled or not allowed to be recycled due to their toxic heavy metal concentration. Waste is processed with incombustible residues and an incineration bottom ash discharged from existent conventional incinerators, using a gasification and melting technology (the Direct Melting System). The inert materials, contained in municipal solid waste, incombustibles and bottom ash, are recycled as slag and metal in this process as well as energy recovery. Based on this new waste management scheme with a co-gasification system, a case study of municipal solid waste co-gasification was evaluated and compared with other technical solutions, such as conventional incineration, incineration with an ash melting facility under certain boundary conditions. From a technical point of view, co-gasification produced high quality slag with few harmful heavy metals, which was recycled completely without requiring any further post-treatment such as aging. As a consequence, the co-gasification system had an economical advantage over other systems because of its material recovery and minimization of the final landfill amount. Sensitivity analyses of landfill cost, power price and inert materials in waste were also conducted. The higher the landfill costs, the greater

Safety in the veterinary medical workplace environment. Common issues and concerns.

PubMed

Brody, M D

1993-09-01

This article addresses some of the major areas of concern related to safety in the veterinary workplace. Some practical guidance is offered for setting up programs in areas such as medical waste, hazard communication, general occupational safety and health requirements, shipments of etiologic agents, and pesticides.

Understanding safety culture in long-term care: a case study.

PubMed

Halligan, Michelle H; Zecevic, Aleksandra; Kothari, Anita R; Salmoni, Alan W; Orchard, Treena

2014-12-01

This case study aimed to understand safety culture in a high-risk secured unit for cognitively impaired residents in a long-term care (LTC) facility. Specific objectives included the following: diagnosing the present level of safety culture maturity using the Patient Safety Culture Improvement Tool (PSCIT), examining the barriers to a positive safety culture, and identifying actions for improvement. A mixed methods design was used within a secured unit for cognitively impaired residents in a Canadian nonprofit LTC facility. Semistructured interviews, a focus group, and the Modified Stanford Patient Safety Culture Survey Instrument were used to explore this topic. Data were synthesized to situate safety maturity of the unit within the PSCIT adapted for LTC. Results indicated a reactive culture, where safety systems were piecemeal and developed only in response to adverse events and/or regulatory requirements. A punitive regulatory environment, inadequate resources, heavy workloads, poor interdisciplinary collaboration, and resident safety training capacity were major barriers to improving safety. This study highlights the importance of understanding a unit's safety culture and identifies the PSCIT as a useful framework for planning future improvements to safety culture maturity. Incorporating mixed methods in the study of health care safety culture provided a good model that can be recommended for future use in research and LTC practice.

Development of sustainable waste management toward zero landfill waste for the petrochemical industry in Thailand using a comprehensive 3R methodology: A case study.

PubMed

Usapein, Parnuwat; Chavalparit, Orathai

2014-06-01

Sustainable waste management was introduced more than ten years ago, but it has not yet been applied to the Thai petrochemical industry. Therefore, under the philosophy of sustainable waste management, this research aims to apply the reduce, reuse, and recycle (3R) concept at the petrochemical factory level to achieve a more sustainable industrial solid waste management system. Three olefin plants in Thailand were surveyed for the case study. The sources and types of waste and existing waste management options were identified. The results indicate that there are four sources of waste generation: (1) production, (2) maintenance, (3) waste treatment, and (4) waste packaging, which correspond to 45.18%, 36.71%, 9.73%, and 8.37% of the waste generated, respectively. From the survey, 59 different types of industrial wastes were generated from the different factory activities. The proposed 3R options could reduce the amount of landfill waste to 79.01% of the amount produced during the survey period; this reduction would occur over a period of 2 years and would result in reduced disposal costs and reduced consumption of natural resources. This study could be used as an example of an improved waste management system in the petrochemical industry. © The Author(s) 2014.

ESTIMATION OF EXPOSURE DOSES FOR THE SAFE MANAGEMENT OF NORM WASTE DISPOSAL.

PubMed

Jeong, Jongtae; Ko, Nak Yul; Cho, Dong-Keun; Baik, Min Hoon; Yoon, Ki-Hoon

2018-03-16

Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) wastes with different radiological characteristics are generated in several industries. The appropriate options for NORM waste management including disposal options should be discussed and established based on the act and regulation guidelines. Several studies calculated the exposure dose and mass of NORM waste to be disposed in landfill site by considering the activity concentration level and exposure dose. In 2012, the Korean government promulgated an act on the safety control of NORM around living environments to protect human health and the environment. For the successful implementation of this act, we suggest a reference design for a landfill for the disposal of NORM waste. Based on this reference landfill, we estimate the maximum exposure doses and the relative impact of each pathway to exposure dose for three scenarios: a reference scenario, an ingestion pathway exclusion scenario, and a low leach rate scenario. Also, we estimate the possible quantity of NORM waste disposal into a landfill as a function of the activity concentration level of U series, Th series and 40K and two kinds of exposure dose levels, 1 and 0.3 mSv/y. The results of this study can be used to support the establishment of technical bases of the management strategy for the safe disposal of NORM waste.

Assessment of pharmaceutical waste management at selected hospitals and homes in Ghana.

PubMed

Sasu, Samuel; Kümmerer, Klaus; Kranert, Martin

2012-06-01

The practice of use and disposal of waste from pharmaceuticals compromises the safety of the environment as well as representing a serious health risk, as they may accumulate and stay active for a long time in the aquatic environment. This article therefore presents the outcome of a study on pharmaceutical waste management practices at homes and hospitals in Ghana. The study was conducted at five healthcare institutions randomly selected in Ghana, namely two teaching hospitals (hospital A, hospital B), one regional hospital (hospital C), one district hospital (hospital D) and one quasi-governmental hospital (hospital E). Apart from hospital E which currently has a pharmaceutical waste separation programmr as well as drug return programme called DUMP (Disposal of Unused Medicines Program), all other hospitals visited do not have any separate collection and disposal programme for pharmaceutical waste. A survey was also carried out among the general public, involving the questioning of randomly selected participants in order to investigate the household disposal of unused and expired pharmaceuticals. The results from the survey showed that more than half of the respondents confirmed having unused, left-over or expired medicines at home and over 75% disposed of pharmaceutical waste through the normal waste bins which end up in the landfills or dump sites.

Waste audit study: Research and educational institutions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1988-08-15

This document reports on hazardous-waste reduction audits performed at three diverse research/educational institutions in southern California. Waste-reduction opportunities identified include: utilizing microscale experiments; chemical substitution; treating waste chemicals in the final step in experiments; and recycle, recovery, and treatment options. A generic self-audit was developed for use by educational and research institutions throughout the state.

Designing Effective Safety Signs, Based on a Study of Recall for Safety Signs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berry, Dennis W.

Aside from direct supervision at a recreational facility, safety signs, if designed properly, are the most effective approach to facility safety. This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of various sign designs: (l) multiple concepts with text; (2) single concept with text; and (3) single concept with graphics. A discussion of…

Study of waste management towards sustainable green campus in Universitas Gadjah Mada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Setyowati, Mega; Kusumawanto, Arif; Prasetya, Agus

2018-05-01

Waste management is a part of the green campus achievement program. Universitas Gadjah Mada has a Standard Operating Procedure for managing produced waste. Waste produced by each building or work unit is temporarily accommodated in the waste depot before dumped into the landfill. This research aims to study the waste management system in UGM, in accordance with the concept of a green campus. The concept of green campus to improve the efficiency of waste management needs to be supported by various parties. The success of the green campus program relies on an integrated approach, a sustainable implementation that involves stakeholders of the university. In actualizing the concept of a green campus, the university has its own waste processing system. The organic produced waste is processed into compost, while plastic waste is converted into alternative fuel. Overall, the waste management system that UGM owns is ineffective and inefficient, it was proved by the fact that there is still much waste dumped into the landfill. UGM provides a laboratory that is specialized to process waste that is produced by UGM. It is planned to be able to reduce the amount of waste that is dumped into the landfill. According to the results, vermicomposting technology, the manufacture of liquid fertilizer from leachate, and the manufacture of the composite from a mixture of leaves and paper were offered as solutions.

Lessons Learned from Radioactive Waste Storage and Disposal Facilities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Esh, David W.; Bradford, Anna H.

2008-01-15

The safety of radioactive waste disposal facilities and the decommissioning of complex sites may be predicated on the performance of engineered and natural barriers. For assessing the safety of a waste disposal facility or a decommissioned site, a performance assessment or similar analysis is often completed. The analysis is typically based on a site conceptual model that is developed from site characterization information, observations, and, in many cases, expert judgment. Because waste disposal facilities are sited, constructed, monitored, and maintained, a fair amount of data has been generated at a variety of sites in a variety of natural systems. Thismore » paper provides select examples of lessons learned from the observations developed from the monitoring of various radioactive waste facilities (storage and disposal), and discusses the implications for modeling of future waste disposal facilities that are yet to be constructed or for the development of dose assessments for the release of decommissioning sites. Monitoring has been and continues to be performed at a variety of different facilities for the disposal of radioactive waste. These include facilities for the disposal of commercial low-level waste (LLW), reprocessing wastes, and uranium mill tailings. Many of the lessons learned and problems encountered provide a unique opportunity to improve future designs of waste disposal facilities, to improve dose modeling for decommissioning sites, and to be proactive in identifying future problems. Typically, an initial conceptual model was developed and the siting and design of the disposal facility was based on the conceptual model. After facility construction and operation, monitoring data was collected and evaluated. In many cases the monitoring data did not comport with the original site conceptual model, leading to additional investigation and changes to the site conceptual model and modifications to the design of the facility. The following cases are

Development of integrated radioactive waste packaging and conditioning solutions in the UK

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sibley, Peter; Butter, Kevin; Zimmerman, Ian

2013-07-01

In order to offer a more cost effective, safer and efficient Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) management service, EnergySolutions EU Ltd. and Gesellschaft fur Nuklear-Service mbH (GNS) have been engaged in the development of integrated radioactive waste retrieval, packaging and conditioning solutions in the UK. Recognising the challenges surrounding regulatory endorsement and on-site implementation in particular, this has resulted in an alternative approach to meeting customer, safety regulator and disposability requirements. By working closely with waste producers and the organisation(s) responsible for endorsing radioactive waste management operations in the UK, our proposed solutions are now being implemented. By combining GNS' off-the-shelf,more » proven Ductile Cast Iron Containers (DCICs) and water removal technologies, with EnergySolutions EU Ltd.'s experience and expertise in waste retrieval, safety case development and disposability submissions, a fully integrated service offering has been developed. This has involved significant effort to overcome technical challenges such as onsite equipment deployment, active commissioning, conditioning success criteria and disposability acceptance. Our experience in developing such integrated solutions has highlighted the importance of working in collaboration with all parties to achieve a successful and viable outcome. Ultimately, the goal is to ensure reliable, safe and effective delivery of waste management solutions. (authors)« less

49 CFR 172.205 - Hazardous waste manifest.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Hazardous waste manifest. 172.205 Section 172.205 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation PIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SAFETY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION HAZARDOUS MATERIALS REGULATIONS HAZARDOUS MATERIALS TABLE, SPECIAL PROVISIONS, HAZARDOUS MATERIALS...

Improved orbiter waste collection system study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bastin, P. H.

1984-01-01

Design concepts for improved fecal waste collection both on the space shuttle orbiter and as a precursor for the space station are discussed. Inflight usage problems associated with the existing orbiter waste collection subsystem are considered. A basis was sought for the selection of an optimum waste collection system concept which may ultimately result in the development of an orbiter flight test article for concept verification and subsequent production of new flight hardware. Two concepts were selected for orbiter and are shown in detail. Additionally, one concept selected for application to the space station is presented.

From waste to sustainable materials management: Three case studies of the transition journey.

PubMed

Silva, Angie; Rosano, Michele; Stocker, Laura; Gorissen, Leen

2017-03-01

Waste policy is increasingly moving on from the 'prevention of waste' to a 'sustainable materials policy' focused agenda recognising individual wastes as a resource. In order to comparatively analyse policy developments in enhanced waste management, three case studies were selected; San Francisco's Zero Waste Program, Flanders's Sustainable Materials Management Initiative and Japan's Sound Material-Cycle Society Plan. These case studies were chosen as an opportunity to investigate the variety of leading approaches, governance structures, and enhanced waste policy outcomes, emerging globally. This paper concludes that the current transitional state of waste management across the world, is only in the first leg of the journey towards Circular Economy closed loop production models of waste as a resource material. It is suggested that further development in government policy, planning and behaviour change is required. A focus on material policy and incorporating multiple front runners across industry and knowledge institutions are offered as potential directions in the movement away from end-pipe land-fill solutions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Leptospira Exposure and Waste Pickers: A Case-Control Seroprevalence Study in Durango, Mexico

PubMed Central

Alvarado-Esquivel, Cosme; Hernandez-Tinoco, Jesus; Sanchez-Anguiano, Luis Francisco; Ramos-Nevarez, Agar; Cerrillo-Soto, Sandra Margarita; Guido-Arreola, Carlos Alberto

2015-01-01

Background Infection with Leptospira may occur by contact with Leptospira-infected animals. Waste pickers are in contact with rodents and dogs while picking in the garbage. Whether waste pickers are at risk for Leptospira infection is largely unknown. This study was aimed to determine the association of Leptospira IgG seroprevalence with the occupation of waste picking, and to determine the epidemiological characteristics of the waste pickers with Leptospira exposure. Methods Through a case-control study, we determined the seroprevalence of anti-Leptospira IgG antibodies in 90 waste pickers and 90 age- and gender-matched control subjects in Durango City, Mexico using an enzyme immunoassay. Data were analyzed by bivariate and multivariate analyses. Results The prevalence of anti-Leptospira IgG antibodies was similar in waste pickers (4/90: 4.4%) to that in control subjects (5/90: 5.6%) (P = 1.00). Bivariate analysis showed that Leptospira exposure in waste pickers was associated with increasing age (P = 0.009), no education (P = 0.008), and consumption of rat meat (P = 0.04). However, these associations were no longer found by multivariate analysis. Leptospira exposure in waste pickers was not associated with health status, duration in the activity, wearing hand gloves and facemasks, history of injuries with sharp material of the garbage, or contact with animals or soil. Conclusions This is the first study about Leptospira exposure in waste pickers. Results suggest that waste pickers are not at increasing risk for Leptospira exposure in Durango City, Mexico. Further research with a larger sample size to elucidate the association of Leptospira exposure with waste picking activity is needed. PMID:26124911

Leptospira Exposure and Waste Pickers: A Case-Control Seroprevalence Study in Durango, Mexico.

PubMed

Alvarado-Esquivel, Cosme; Hernandez-Tinoco, Jesus; Sanchez-Anguiano, Luis Francisco; Ramos-Nevarez, Agar; Cerrillo-Soto, Sandra Margarita; Guido-Arreola, Carlos Alberto

2015-08-01

Infection with Leptospira may occur by contact with Leptospira-infected animals. Waste pickers are in contact with rodents and dogs while picking in the garbage. Whether waste pickers are at risk for Leptospira infection is largely unknown. This study was aimed to determine the association of Leptospira IgG seroprevalence with the occupation of waste picking, and to determine the epidemiological characteristics of the waste pickers with Leptospira exposure. Through a case-control study, we determined the seroprevalence of anti-Leptospira IgG antibodies in 90 waste pickers and 90 age- and gender-matched control subjects in Durango City, Mexico using an enzyme immunoassay. Data were analyzed by bivariate and multivariate analyses. The prevalence of anti-Leptospira IgG antibodies was similar in waste pickers (4/90: 4.4%) to that in control subjects (5/90: 5.6%) (P = 1.00). Bivariate analysis showed that Leptospira exposure in waste pickers was associated with increasing age (P = 0.009), no education (P = 0.008), and consumption of rat meat (P = 0.04). However, these associations were no longer found by multivariate analysis. Leptospira exposure in waste pickers was not associated with health status, duration in the activity, wearing hand gloves and facemasks, history of injuries with sharp material of the garbage, or contact with animals or soil. This is the first study about Leptospira exposure in waste pickers. Results suggest that waste pickers are not at increasing risk for Leptospira exposure in Durango City, Mexico. Further research with a larger sample size to elucidate the association of Leptospira exposure with waste picking activity is needed.

[RADIATION SAFETY DURING REMEDIATION OF THE "SEVRAO" FACILITIES].

PubMed

Shandala, N K; Kiselev, S M; Titov, A V; Simakov, A V; Seregin, V A; Kryuchkov, V P; Bogdanova, L S; Grachev, M I

2015-01-01

Within a framework of national program on elimination of nuclear legacy, State Corporation "Rosatom" is working on rehabilitation at the temporary waste storage facility at Andreeva Bay (Northwest Center for radioactive waste "SEVRAO"--the branch of "RosRAO"), located in the North-West of Russia. In the article there is presented an analysis of the current state of supervision for radiation safety of personnel and population in the context of readiness of the regulator to the implementation of an effective oversight of radiation safety in the process of radiation-hazardous work. Presented in the article results of radiation-hygienic monitoring are an informative indicator of the effectiveness of realized rehabilitation measures and characterize the radiation environment in the surveillance zone as a normal, without the tendency to its deterioration.

Final repository for Denmark's low- and intermediate level radioactive waste

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nilsson, B.; Gravesen, P.; Petersen, S. S.; Binderup, M.

2012-12-01

Bertel Nilsson*, Peter Gravesen, Stig A. Schack Petersen, Merete Binderup Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Øster Voldgade 10, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark, * email address bn@geus.dk The Danish Parliament decided in 2003 that the temporal disposal of the low- and intermediate level radioactive waste at the nuclear facilities at Risø should find another location for a final repository. The Danish radioactive waste must be stored on Danish land territory (exclusive Greenland) and must hold the entire existing radioactive waste, consisting of the waste from the decommissioning of the nuclear facilities at Risø, and the radioactive waste produced in Denmark from hospitals, universities and industry. The radioactive waste is estimated to a total amount of up to 10,000 m3. The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, GEUS, is responsible for the geological studies of suitable areas for the repository. The task has been to locate and recognize non-fractured Quaternary and Tertiary clays or Precambrian bedrocks with low permeability which can isolate the radioactive waste from the surroundings the coming more than 300 years. Twenty two potential areas have been located and sequential reduced to the most favorable two to three locations taking into consideration geology, hydrogeology, nature protection and climate change conditions. Further detailed environmental and geology investigations will be undertaken at the two to three potential localities in 2013 to 2015. This study together with a study of safe transport of the radioactive waste and an investigation of appropriate repository concepts in relation to geology and safety analyses will constitute the basis upon which the final decision by the Danish Parliament on repository concept and repository location. The final repository is planned to be established and in operation at the earliest 2020.

Quarterly report on Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 90-7 for the period ending December 31, 1992

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cash, R.J.; Dukelow, G.T.; Forbes, C.J.

1993-03-01

This is the seventh quarterly report on the progress of activities addressing safety issues associated with Hanford Site high-level radioactive waste tanks that contain ferrocyanide compounds. In the presence of oxidizing materials, such as nitrates or nitrites, ferrocyanide can be made to explode in the laboratory by heating it to high temperatures [above 285{degrees}C (545{degrees}F)]. In the mid 1950s approximately 140 metric tons of ferrocyanide were added to 24 underground high-level radioactive waste tanks. An implementation plan (Cash 1991) responding to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 90-7 (FR 1990) was issued in March 1991 describing the activities thatmore » were planned and underway to address each of the six parts of Recommendation 90-7. A revision to the original plan was transmitted to US Department of Energy by Westinghouse Hanford Company in December 1992. Milestones completed this quarter are described in this report. Contents of this report include: Introduction; Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Implementation Plan Task Activities (Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation for enhanced temperature measurement, Recommendation for continuous temperature monitoring, Recommendation for cover gas monitoring, Recommendation for ferrocyanide waste characterization, Recommendation for chemical reaction studies, and Recommendation for emergency response planning); Schedules; and References. All actions recommended by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board for emergency planning by Hanford Site emergency preparedness organizations have been completed.« less

Plate Waste Study. State of Utah.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Utah State Board of Education, Salt Lake City.

In a study to evaluate various factors affecting food waste in the school lunch program, data were collected from grades 1-6 in four districts, using three schools from each district on three consecutive days. The average number of participants per school was 384. More than 13,824 individual sets of data were collected. Thirty-six menus were…

Permanent Disposal of Nuclear Waste in Salt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hansen, F. D.

2016-12-01

Salt formations hold promise for eternal removal of nuclear waste from our biosphere. Germany and the United States have ample salt formations for this purpose, ranging from flat-bedded formations to geologically mature dome structures. Both nations are revisiting nuclear waste disposal options, accompanied by extensive collaboration on applied salt repository research, design, and operation. Salt formations provide isolation while geotechnical barriers reestablish impermeability after waste is placed in the geology. Between excavation and closure, physical, mechanical, thermal, chemical, and hydrological processes ensue. Salt response over a range of stress and temperature has been characterized for decades. Research practices employ refined test techniques and controls, which improve parameter assessment for features of the constitutive models. Extraordinary computational capabilities require exacting understanding of laboratory measurements and objective interpretation of modeling results. A repository for heat-generative nuclear waste provides an engineering challenge beyond common experience. Long-term evolution of the underground setting is precluded from direct observation or measurement. Therefore, analogues and modeling predictions are necessary to establish enduring safety functions. A strong case for granular salt reconsolidation and a focused research agenda support salt repository concepts that include safety-by-design. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000. Author: F. D. Hansen, Sandia National Laboratories

Climate change and landscape development in post-closure safety assessment of solid radioactive waste disposal: Results of an initiative of the IAEA.

PubMed

Lindborg, T; Thorne, M; Andersson, E; Becker, J; Brandefelt, J; Cabianca, T; Gunia, M; Ikonen, A T K; Johansson, E; Kangasniemi, V; Kautsky, U; Kirchner, G; Klos, R; Kowe, R; Kontula, A; Kupiainen, P; Lahdenperä, A-M; Lord, N S; Lunt, D J; Näslund, J-O; Nordén, M; Norris, S; Pérez-Sánchez, D; Proverbio, A; Riekki, K; Rübel, A; Sweeck, L; Walke, R; Xu, S; Smith, G; Pröhl, G

2018-03-01

The International Atomic Energy Agency has coordinated an international project addressing climate change and landscape development in post-closure safety assessments of solid radioactive waste disposal. The work has been supported by results of parallel on-going research that has been published in a variety of reports and peer reviewed journal articles. The project is due to be described in detail in a forthcoming IAEA report. Noting the multi-disciplinary nature of post-closure safety assessments, here, an overview of the work is given to provide researchers in the broader fields of radioecology and radiological safety assessment with a review of the work that has been undertaken. It is hoped that such dissemination will support and promote integrated understanding and coherent treatment of climate change and landscape development within an overall assessment process. The key activities undertaken in the project were: identification of the key processes that drive environmental change (mainly those associated with climate and climate change), and description of how a relevant future may develop on a global scale; development of a methodology for characterising environmental change that is valid on a global scale, showing how modelled global changes in climate can be downscaled to provide information that may be needed for characterising environmental change in site-specific assessments, and illustrating different aspects of the methodology in a number of case studies that show the evolution of site characteristics and the implications for the dose assessment models. Overall, the study has shown that quantitative climate and landscape modelling has now developed to the stage that it can be used to define an envelope of climate and landscape change scenarios at specific sites and under specific greenhouse-gas emissions assumptions that is suitable for use in quantitative post-closure performance assessments. These scenarios are not predictions of the future, but

Quality assurance audits of medical surveillance programs for hazardous waste workers.

PubMed

Udasin, I G; Buckler, G; Gochfeld, M

1991-11-01

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Regulation (29 CFR 1910.120) requires medical surveillance examinations for hazardous waste workers. We investigated the consistency and appropriateness of the services provided under OSHA 29 CFR 1910.120 as part of a quality control audit. Our study revealed that in most cases the required paperwork including fitness for duty and restrictions or limitations was completed. However, it is also apparent that many of the components of a complete occupational history were not performed. Spirometric examinations often were performed incorrectly. Documentation of baseline tests was not uniformly done, nor were patients always informed of the findings of their examinations. Our study indicated there may be a lack of education, training, and experience of occupational health providers. This suggests that further efforts should be made to educate physicians and nurses providing medical surveillance and other services to hazardous waste workers.

40 CFR 720.90 - Data from health and safety studies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 31 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Data from health and safety studies... Data from health and safety studies. (a) Information other than specific chemical identity. Except as... information included in a health and safety study, unless the information would disclose confidential business...

40 CFR 720.90 - Data from health and safety studies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 30 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Data from health and safety studies... Data from health and safety studies. (a) Information other than specific chemical identity. Except as... information included in a health and safety study, unless the information would disclose confidential business...

40 CFR 720.90 - Data from health and safety studies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Data from health and safety studies... Data from health and safety studies. (a) Information other than specific chemical identity. Except as... information included in a health and safety study, unless the information would disclose confidential business...

40 CFR 720.90 - Data from health and safety studies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 31 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Data from health and safety studies... Data from health and safety studies. (a) Information other than specific chemical identity. Except as... information included in a health and safety study, unless the information would disclose confidential business...

Health and safety programs for art and theater schools.

PubMed

McCann, M

2001-01-01

A wide variety of health and safety hazards exist in schools and colleges of art and theater due to a lack of formal health and safety programs and a failure to include health and safety concerns during planning of new facilities and renovation of existing facilities. This chapter discusses the elements of a health and safety program as well as safety-related structural and equipment needs that should be in the plans for any school of art or theater. These elements include curriculum content, ventilation, storage, housekeeping, waste management, fire and explosion prevention, machine and tool safety, electrical safety, noise, heat stress, and life safety and emergency procedures and equipment. Ideally, these elements should be incorporated into the plans for any new facilities, but ongoing programs can also benefit from a review of existing health and safety programs.

MANAGING UNCERTAINTIES ASSOCIATED WITH RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL: TASK GROUP 4 OF THE IAEA PRISM PROJECT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Seitz, R.

2011-03-02

It is widely recognized that the results of safety assessment calculations provide an important contribution to the safety arguments for a disposal facility, but cannot in themselves adequately demonstrate the safety of the disposal system. The safety assessment and a broader range of arguments and activities need to be considered holistically to justify radioactive waste disposal at any particular site. Many programs are therefore moving towards the production of what has become known as a Safety Case, which includes all of the different activities that are conducted to demonstrate the safety of a disposal concept. Recognizing the growing interest inmore » the concept of a Safety Case, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is undertaking an intercomparison and harmonization project called PRISM (Practical Illustration and use of the Safety Case Concept in the Management of Near-surface Disposal). The PRISM project is organized into four Task Groups that address key aspects of the Safety Case concept: Task Group 1 - Understanding the Safety Case; Task Group 2 - Disposal facility design; Task Group 3 - Managing waste acceptance; and Task Group 4 - Managing uncertainty. This paper addresses the work of Task Group 4, which is investigating approaches for managing the uncertainties associated with near-surface disposal of radioactive waste and their consideration in the context of the Safety Case. Emphasis is placed on identifying a wide variety of approaches that can and have been used to manage different types of uncertainties, especially non-quantitative approaches that have not received as much attention in previous IAEA projects. This paper includes discussions of the current results of work on the task on managing uncertainty, including: the different circumstances being considered, the sources/types of uncertainties being addressed and some initial proposals for approaches that can be used to manage different types of uncertainties.« less

A material flow analysis on current electrical and electronic waste disposal from Hong Kong households

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lau, Winifred Ka-Yan; Chung, Shan-Shan, E-mail: sschung@hkbu.edu.hk; Zhang, Chan

2013-03-15

Highlights: ► Most household TWARC waste is sold directly to private e-waste collectors in HK. ► The current e-waste recycling network is popular with HK households. ► About 80% of household generated TWARC is exported overseas each year. ► Over 7000 tonnes/yr of household generated TWARC reach landfills. ► It is necessary to upgrade safety and awareness in HK’s e-waste recycling industry. - Abstract: A material flow study on five types of household electrical and electronic equipment, namely television, washing machine, air conditioner, refrigerator and personal computer (TWARC) was conducted to assist the Government of Hong Kong to establish anmore » e-waste take-back system. This study is the first systematic attempt on identifying key TWARC waste disposal outlets and trade practices of key parties involved in Hong Kong. Results from two questionnaire surveys, on local households and private e-waste traders, were used to establish the material flow of household TWARC waste. The study revealed that the majority of obsolete TWARC were sold by households to private e-waste collectors and that the current e-waste collection network is efficient and popular with local households. However, about 65,000 tonnes/yr or 80% of household generated TWARC waste are being exported overseas by private e-waste traders, with some believed to be imported into developing countries where crude recycling methods are practiced. Should Hong Kong establish a formal recycling network with tight regulatory control on imports and exports, the potential risks of current e-waste recycling practices on e-waste recycling workers, local residents and the environment can be greatly reduced.« less

Baseline for food waste generation - A case study in Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia cafeterias

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alias, A. R.; Mokhlis, N. A. Mohd; Zainun, N. Y.

2017-11-01

Increasing population and economy status have contributed to the increasing volume of solid wastes produced in Malaysia and it creates problems on the existing solid waste management system. Ineffective waste management system was one of the issues that often discussed. The purpose of this study was to suggest the best method for managing food waste in Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) cafeterias. The scope of the study was to identify the type and quantity of waste generated in each cafeteria. The study area was carried out at six cafeteria in UTHM including residential college cafeteria which are Tun Dr. Ismail (TDI), Tun Fatimah (TF) and Tun Syed Nasir (TSN), G3’s cafeteria, Arked, and Dr. Munie’s cafeteria located at the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering (FKAAS). In this study, food waste was quantified in unit of kilogram (kg). Results of the study showed that total food waste in selected UTHM’s cafeterias was 6197.5 kg for two months. Food waste generated in G3’s cafeteria was the highest value with 1823.5 kg among another cafeteria. This is due to strategic location for students and staff to take meals, the variety of food sold and reasonable price were major factors of generating food waste. Meanwhile, the Dr. Munie's Cafeteria located in FKAAS recorded the least total production of food waste as staffs and students take their meals at others cafeterias. Through literature review, there are list of methods on waste management were identified and composting method was suggested for food waste management in UTHM since the waste was produce in very large quantity.

A study of waste liquid crystal display generation in mainland China.

PubMed

Liu, Zhifeng; Xu, Zeying; Huang, Haihong; Li, Bingbing

2016-01-01

The generation of liquid crystal display waste is becoming a serious social problem. Predicting liquid crystal display waste status is the foundation for establishing a recycling network; however, the difficulty in predicting liquid crystal display waste quantity lies in data mining. In order to determine the quantity and the distribution of liquid crystal display waste in China, the four top-selling liquid crystal display products (liquid crystal display TVs, desktop PCs, notebook PCs, and mobile phones) were selected as study objects. Then, the extended logistic model and market supply A method was used to predict the quantity of liquid crystal display waste products. Moreover, the distribution of liquid crystal display waste products in different regions was evaluated by examining the consumption levels of household equipment. The results revealed that the quantity of waste liquid crystal displays would increase rapidly in the next decade. In particular, the predicted quantity of waste liquid crystal displays would rise to approximately 4.262 × 10(9) pieces in 2020, and the total display area (i.e. the surface area of liquid crystal display panels) of waste liquid crystal displays would reach 5.539 × 10(7) m(2). The prediction on the display area of waste liquid crystal display TVs showed that it would account for 71.5% of the total display area by 2020. Meanwhile, the quantity of waste mobile phones would significantly grow, increasing 5.8 times from 2012 to 2020. In terms of distribution, Guangdong is the top waste liquid crystal display-generating province in China, followed by Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, Zhejiang, and Sichuan. Considering its regional characteristics, Guangdong has been proposed to be the most important location of the recycling network. © The Author(s) 2015.

77 FR 66852 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Hazardous Waste Worker Training

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-07

...; Comment Request; Hazardous Waste Worker Training AGENCY: National Institute of Environmental Health... Sciences (NIEHS) was given major responsibility for initiating a worker safety and health training program... workers and their communities by delivering high-quality, peer-reviewed safety and health curricula to...

ASSESSMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINANTS FOUND IN LOW LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE STREAMS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

R.H. Little, P.R. Maul, J.S.S. Penfoldag

2003-02-27

This paper describes and presents the findings from two studies undertaken for the European Commission to assess the long-term impact upon the environment and human health of non-radioactive contaminants found in various low level radioactive waste streams. The initial study investigated the application of safety assessment approaches developed for radioactive contaminants to the assessment of nonradioactive contaminants in low level radioactive waste. It demonstrated how disposal limits could be derived for a range of non-radioactive contaminants and generic disposal facilities. The follow-up study used the same approach but undertook more detailed, disposal system specific calculations, assessing the impacts of bothmore » the non-radioactive and radioactive contaminants. The calculations undertaken indicated that it is prudent to consider non-radioactive, as well as radioactive contaminants, when assessing the impacts of low level radioactive waste disposal. For some waste streams with relatively low concentrations of radionuclides, the potential post-closure disposal impacts from non-radioactive contaminants can be comparable with the potential radiological impacts. For such waste streams there is therefore an added incentive to explore options for recycling the materials involved wherever possible.« less

Improvement of the material and transport component of the system of construction waste management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kostyshak, Mikhail; Lunyakov, Mikhail

2017-10-01

Relevance of the topic of selected research is conditioned with the growth of construction operations and growth rates of construction and demolition wastes. This article considers modern approaches to the management of turnover of construction waste, sequence of reconstruction or demolition processes of the building, information flow of the complete cycle of turnover of construction and demolition waste, methods for improvement of the material and transport component of the construction waste management system. Performed analysis showed that mechanism of management of construction waste allows to increase efficiency and environmental safety of this branch and regions.

Household hazardous wastes as a potential source of pollution: a generation study.

PubMed

Ojeda-Benítez, Sara; Aguilar-Virgen, Quetzalli; Taboada-González, Paul; Cruz-Sotelo, Samantha E

2013-12-01

Certain domestic wastes exhibit characteristics that render them dangerous, such as explosiveness, flammability, spontaneous combustion, reactivity, toxicity and corrosiveness. The lack of information about their generation and composition hinders the creation of special programs for their collection and treatment, making these wastes a potential threat to human health and the environment. We attempted to quantify the levels of hazardous household waste (HHW) generated in Mexicali, Mexico. The analysis considered three socioeconomic strata and eight categories. The sampling was undertaken on a house-by-house basis, and hypothesis testing was based on differences between two proportions for each of the eight categories. In this study, HHW comprised 3.49% of the total generated waste, which exceeded that reported in previous studies in Mexico. The greatest quantity of HHW was generated by the middle stratum; in the upper stratum, most packages were discarded with their contents remaining. Cleaning products represent 45.86% of the HHW generated. Statistical differences were not observed for only two categories among the three social strata. The scarcity of studies on HHW generation limits direct comparisons. Any decrease in waste generation within the middle social stratum will have a large effect on the total amount of waste generated, and decrease their impact on environmental and human health.

Safety Study--Crashworthiness of Large Poststandard Schoolbuses.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Transportation Safety Board (DOT), Washington, DC.

This study reports on the crash performance of large poststandard school buses (school buses manufactured after April 1, 1977, and weighing more than 10,000 pounds unloaded) in 43 accidents investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board. The report discusses the Safety Board's findings as to how well the standards are working to protect…

The safety climate in primary care (SAP-C) study: study protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility study.

PubMed

Lydon, Sinéad; Cupples, Margaret E; Hart, Nigel; Murphy, Andrew W; Faherty, Aileen; O'Connor, Paul

2016-01-01

Research on patient safety has focused largely on secondary care settings, and there is a dearth of knowledge relating to safety culture or climate, and safety climate improvement strategies, in the context of primary care. This is problematic given the high rates of usage of primary care services and the myriad of opportunities for clinical errors daily. The current research programme aimed to assess the effectiveness of an intervention derived from the Scottish Patient Safety Programme in Primary Care. The intervention consists of safety climate measurement and feedback and patient chart audit using the trigger review method. The purpose of this paper is to describe the background to this research and to present the methodology of this feasibility study in preparation for a future definitive RCT. The SAP-C study is a feasibility study employing a randomised controlled pretest-posttest design that will be conducted in 10 general practices in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Five practices will receive the safety climate intervention over a 9-month period. The five practices in the control group will continue care as usual but will complete the GP-SafeQuest safety climate questionnaire at baseline (month 1) and at the terminus of the intervention (month 9). The outcomes of the study include process evaluation metrics (i.e. rates of participant recruitment and retention, rates of completion of safety climate measures, qualitative data regarding participants' perceptions of the intervention's potential efficacy, acceptability, and sustainability), patient safety culture in intervention and control group practices at posttest, and instances of undetected patient harm identified through patient chart audit using the trigger review method. The planned study investigates an intervention to improve safety climate in Irish primary care settings. The resulting data may inform our knowledge of the frequency of undetected patient safety incidents in primary care

Waste-handling practices at red meat abattoirs in South Africa.

PubMed

Roberts, Hester; de Jager, Linda; Blight, Geoffrey

2009-02-01

Abattoir waste disposal must be carefully managed because the wastes can be a source of food-borne diseases (Nemerow & Dasgupta Industrial and Hazardous Waste Treatment, p. 284, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1991; Bradshaw et al. The Treatment and Handling of Wastes, p. 183, The Royal Society, Chapman & Hall, London, 1992). Disposal of food that has been condemned because it is known to be diseased is of particular concern, and this paper looks at current disposal methods for such waste in the light of new scientific developments and waste-management strategies. Questionnaires were presented to management and workers at low- and high-throughput red meat abattoirs in the Free State Province, South Africa to determine current waste-handling procedures for condemned products. The waste-handling practices, almost without exception, did not fully comply with the requirements of the South African Red Meat Regulations of 2004, framed under the Meat Safety Act (Act 40 of 2000). The survey highlighted the need to improve current waste-handling strategies to prevent condemned products from re-entering the food chain and contributing to environmental pollution.

Comparison of solid-phase and eluate assays to gauge the ecotoxicological risk of organic wastes on soil organisms.

PubMed

Domene, Xavier; Alcañiz, Josep M; Andrés, Pilar

2008-02-01

Development of methodologies to assess the safety of reusing polluted organic wastes in soil is a priority in Europe. In this study, and coupled with chemical analysis, seven organic wastes were subjected to different aquatic and soil bioassays. Tests were carried out with solid-phase waste and three different waste eluates (water, methanol, and dichloromethane). Solid-phase assays were indicated as the most suitable for waste testing not only in terms of relevance for real situations, but also because toxicity in eluates was generally not representative of the chronic effects in solid-phase. No general correlations were found between toxicity and waste pollutant burden, neither in solid-phase nor in eluate assays, showing the inability of chemical methods to predict the ecotoxicological risks of wastes. On the contrary, several physicochemical parameters reflecting the degree of low organic matter stability in wastes were the main contributors to the acute toxicity seen in collembolans and daphnids.

Treatment Study Plan for Nitrate Salt Waste Remediation Revision 1.0

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Juarez, Catherine L.; Funk, David John; Vigil-Holterman, Luciana R.

2016-03-07

The two stabilization treatment methods that are to be examined for their effectiveness in the treatment of both the unremediated and remediated nitrate salt wastes include (1) the addition of zeolite and (2) cementation. Zeolite addition is proposed based on the results of several studies and analyses that specifically examined the effectiveness of this process for deactivating nitrate salts. Cementation is also being assessed because of its prevalence as an immobilization method used for similar wastes at numerous facilities around the DOE complex, including at Los Alamos. The results of this Treatment Study Plan will be used to provide themore » basis for a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) permit modification request of the LANL Hazardous Waste Facility Permit for approval by the New Mexico Environment Department-Hazardous Waste Bureau (NMED-HWB) of the proposed treatment process and the associated facilities.« less

Guide to radioactive waste management literature

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Houser, B.L.; Holoway, C.F.; Madewell, D.G.

Increased public concern about radioactive waste management has called attention to this aspect of the nuclear fuel cycle. Socio-economic planning and technical development are being undertaken to assure that such wastes will be managed safely. This Guide to Radioactive Waste Management Literature has been compiled to serve scientists, engineers, administrators, legislators, and private citizens by directing them to sources of information on various aspects of the subject. References were selected from about 6000 documents on waste management in the computerized information centers in Oak Ridge. The documents were selected, examined, indexed, and abstracted between 1966-1976 by several knowledgeable indexers, principallymore » at the Nuclear Safety Information Center. The selected references were further indexed and classified into 12 categories. Each category is discussed in enough detail to give some understandng of present technology in various phases of waste management and some appreciation of the attendant issues and problems. The bibliographic part of this guide exists in computerized form in the Health Physics Information System and is available through the Oak Ridge Information Center Complex for searching from remote terminals.« less

Investigating factors influencing construction waste management efforts in developing countries: an experience from Thailand.

PubMed

Manowong, Ektewan

2012-01-01

Rapid economic growth and urbanization in developing countries lead to extensive construction activities that generate a large amount of waste. A challenge is how to manage construction waste in the most sustainable way. In the developing world, research on construction waste management is scarce and such academic knowledge needs to be responsive to actual practices in the industry in order to be implemented. As construction projects involve a number of participants and stakeholders, their participation and commitment can have a major influence on the goals of green and sustainable construction for urban development. This study provides a significant step in conducting a very first research of this kind in Thailand by aiming to investigate the level of construction stakeholders' commitment as well as the achievement of construction waste management in order to improve short-term practices and to establish a long-term strategic construction waste management plan. In this study, a structural equation model was employed to investigate the influence of factors that are related to environmental aspects, social aspects, and economic aspect of construction waste management. Concern about health and safety was found to be the most significant and dominant influence on the achievement of sustainable construction waste management. Other factors affecting the successful management of construction waste in Thai construction projects were also identified. It is perceived that this study has potential to contribute useful guidelines for practitioners both in Thailand and other developing countries with similar contexts.

Infectious waste surveys in a Saudi Arabian hospital: an important quality improvement tool.

PubMed

Hagen, D L; Al-Humaidi, F; Blake, M A

2001-06-01

To analyze the composition by weight of the infectious waste stream, better segregate waste, reduce disposal costs, reduce the load on the hospital incinerator, identify inappropriate items having significant cost or safety implications, and provide a safer work environment for housekeepers. Four infectious waste surveys were conducted between 1991 and 1999 that involved opening a total of 7364 bags of infectious waste. The contents of each infectious waste bag were separated into 20 different components and weighed. Inappropriately discarded items were removed and tagged with the date and hospital unit of origin. Dhahran Health Center, a 410-bed hospital operated by the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The surveys show a continuing trend in a higher percentage of plastics and a decrease in paper due to increased use of disposables. Much of the infectious waste consisted of plastic intravenous bottles, intravenous lines, and paper wrappers for sterile instrument sets that were not infectious. Dhahran Health Center was producing a total of 1163 kg of infectious waste per day before the first survey. This was reduced to 407 kg per day after implementation of a waste segregation program in 1991 (a reduction of 65%). Incineration operation was reduced from daily to 3 days per week, with a corresponding reduction in incinerator emissions. Infectious waste from inpatient, surgical, and obstetric areas was reduced by a total of 70% between 1991 and 1999, from 2.8 kg (6.1 lb) to 0.85 kg (1.9 lb) per patient per day. This is in the range of 2 to 4 lb per patient per day that is generally reported. Numerous inappropriately discarded items were discovered during the surveys with cost or safety implications. Each survey, including the latest one of November-December 1999, has shown that further improvements are possible in the hospital's waste management program. Specific educational efforts and changes in procedures are described. We believe

Frictional Properties of Opalinus Clay: Implications for Nuclear Waste Storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orellana, L. F.; Scuderi, M. M.; Collettini, C.; Violay, M.

2018-01-01

The kaolinite-bearing Opalinus Clay (OPA) is the host rock proposed in Switzerland for disposal of radioactive waste. However, the presence of tectonic faults intersecting the OPA formation put the long-term safety performance of the underground repository into question due to the possibility of earthquakes triggered by fault instability. In this paper, we study the frictional properties of the OPA shale. To do that, we have carried out biaxial direct shear experiments under conditions typical of nuclear waste storage. We have performed velocity steps (1-300 μm/s) and slide-hold-slide tests (1-3,000 s) on simulated fault gouge at different normal stresses (4-30 MPa). To establish the deformation mechanisms, we have analyzed the microstructures of the sheared samples through scanning electron microscopy. Our results show that peak (μpeak) and steady state friction (μss) range from 0.21 to 0.52 and 0.14 to 0.39, respectively, thus suggesting that OPA fault gouges are weak. The velocity dependence of friction indicates a velocity strengthening regime, with the friction rate parameter (a - b) that decreases with normal stress. Finally, the zero healing values imply a lack of restrengthening during interseismic periods. Taken together, if OPA fault reactivates, our experimental evidence favors an aseismic slip behavior, making the nucleation of earthquakes difficult, and long-term weakness, resulting in stable fault creeping over geological times. Based on the results, our study confirms the seismic safety of the OPA formation for a nuclear waste repository.

Calculating the pre-consumer waste footprint: A screening study of 10 selected products.

PubMed

Laurenti, Rafael; Moberg, Åsa; Stenmarck, Åsa

2017-01-01

Knowledge about the total waste generated by the production of consumer goods can help raise awareness among policy-makers, producers and consumers of the benefits of closing loops in a future circular economy, avoiding unnecessary production and production steps and associated generation of large amounts of waste. In strict life cycle assessment practice, information on waste outputs from intermediate industrial processes of material and energy transformation is translated into and declared as potential environmental impacts, which are often not reported in the final results. In this study, a procedure to extract available intermediate data and perform a systematic pre-consumer waste footprint analysis was developed. The pre-consumer waste footprint concept was tested to analyse 10 generic products, which provided some novel and interesting results for the different product categories and identified a number of challenges that need to be resolved in development of the waste footprint concept. These challenges include standardised data declaration on waste in life cycle assessment, with a separation into waste categories illustrating the implicit environmental and scale of significance of waste types and quantities (e.g. hazardous waste, inert waste, waste for recycling/incineration) and establishment of a common definition of waste throughout sectors and nations.

Quantitative study of controlled substance bedside wasting, disposal and evaluation of potential ecologic effects.

PubMed

Mankes, Russell F; Silver, Charles D

2013-02-01

Drugs in wastewater arise from many sources. For health care, these include excretion and direct disposal (bedside wasting). The present study reports on the dispensing and wasting of 15 controlled substances (CS) at two health care facilities in Albany, NY over a nearly two year period. The study considered measures of ecotoxicity, drug metabolism, excretion and disposal of these CS. Potential alternatives to flushing of CS into wastewaters from healthcare facilities are discussed. Drug medication and waste collection records (12,345) included: numbers of drugs dispensed, returned and wasted. Overall, 8528 g of 15 CS were wasted. Three (midazolam, acetaminophen-codeine and fentanyl) accounted for 87.5% of the total wasted. Wasting varied by hospital, 14 CS at the academic medical center hospital and 8 at the surgical care center were wasted. Liquids were more frequently wasted than tablets or pills. Some combination drugs (acetaminophen (APAP)-codeine) were frequently (50% of drug dispensed) wasted while others were less wasted (APAP-hydrocodone-6.3%; APAP-oxycodone-1.3%). The 8 CS judged more hazardous to aquatic life were: APAP-codeine, APAP-hydrocodone, APAP-oxycodone, alprazolam, diazepam, fentanyl, midazolam, and testosterone. Ketamine, morphine, oxycodone and zolpidem were of lesser acute toxicity based on available LC50 values. These CS might provide a therapeutically equivalent alternative to the more environmentally harmful drugs. In health care facilities, professionals dispose of CS by bedside wasting into water or other receptacles. This can be avoided by returning CS to the hospital's pharmacy department, thence to a licensed distributor. Study of this process of drug wasting can identify opportunities for process improvements. We found 3 CS (APAP-codeine, midazolam and testosterone) where ½ to 1/3 of the drug was wasted and 5 others with 30 to 13% wasted. Knowledge of the adverse impacts from the release of highly toxic drugs into the environment

Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) waste Integrated Performance and Safety Codes (IPSC) : gap analysis for high fidelity and performance assessment code development.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lee, Joon H.; Siegel, Malcolm Dean; Arguello, Jose Guadalupe, Jr.

2011-03-01

This report describes a gap analysis performed in the process of developing the Waste Integrated Performance and Safety Codes (IPSC) in support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) Campaign. The goal of the Waste IPSC is to develop an integrated suite of computational modeling and simulation capabilities to quantitatively assess the long-term performance of waste forms in the engineered and geologic environments of a radioactive waste storage or disposal system. The Waste IPSC will provide this simulation capability (1) for a range of disposal concepts, waste form types, engineered repositorymore » designs, and geologic settings, (2) for a range of time scales and distances, (3) with appropriate consideration of the inherent uncertainties, and (4) in accordance with rigorous verification, validation, and software quality requirements. The gap analyses documented in this report were are performed during an initial gap analysis to identify candidate codes and tools to support the development and integration of the Waste IPSC, and during follow-on activities that delved into more detailed assessments of the various codes that were acquired, studied, and tested. The current Waste IPSC strategy is to acquire and integrate the necessary Waste IPSC capabilities wherever feasible, and develop only those capabilities that cannot be acquired or suitably integrated, verified, or validated. The gap analysis indicates that significant capabilities may already exist in the existing THC codes although there is no single code able to fully account for all physical and chemical processes involved in a waste disposal system. Large gaps exist in modeling chemical processes and their couplings with other processes. The coupling of chemical processes with flow transport and mechanical deformation remains challenging. The data for extreme environments (e.g., for elevated temperature and high ionic strength media) that

Fractionation study in bioleached metallurgy wastes using six-step sequential extraction.

PubMed

Krasnodebska-Ostrega, Beata; Pałdyna, Joanna; Kowalska, Joanna; Jedynak, Łukasz; Golimowski, Jerzy

2009-08-15

The stored metallurgy wastes contain residues from ore processing operations that are characterized by relatively high concentrations of heavy metals. The bioleaching process makes use of bacteria to recover elements from industrial wastes and to decrease potential risk of environmental contamination. Wastes were treated by solutions containing bacteria. In this work, the optimized six-stage sequential extraction procedure was applied for the fractionation of Ni, Cr, Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn in iron-nickel metallurgy wastes deposited in Southern Poland (Szklary). Fractionation and total concentrations of elements in wastes before and after various bioleaching treatments were studied. Analyses of the extracts were performed by ICP-MS and FAAS. To achieve the most effective bioleaching of Zn, Cr, Ni, Cu, Mn, Fe the usage of both autotrophic and heterotrophic bacteria in sequence, combined with flushing of the residue after bioleaching is required. 80-100% of total metal concentrations were mobilized after the proposed treatment. Wastes treated according to this procedure could be deposited without any risk of environmental contamination and additionally the metals could be recovered for industrial purposes.

A simplified approach for slope stability analysis of uncontrolled waste dumps.

PubMed

Turer, Dilek; Turer, Ahmet

2011-02-01

Slope stability analysis of municipal solid waste has always been problematic because of the heterogeneous nature of the waste materials. The requirement for large testing equipment in order to obtain representative samples has identified the need for simplified approaches to obtain the unit weight and shear strength parameters of the waste. In the present study, two of the most recently published approaches for determining the unit weight and shear strength parameters of the waste have been incorporated into a slope stability analysis using the Bishop method to prepare slope stability charts. The slope stability charts were prepared for uncontrolled waste dumps having no liner and leachate collection systems with pore pressure ratios of 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5, considering the most critical slip surface passing through the toe of the slope. As the proposed slope stability charts were prepared by considering the change in unit weight as a function of height, they reflect field conditions better than accepting a constant unit weight approach in the stability analysis. They also streamline the selection of slope or height as a function of the desired factor of safety.

Effects of introducing energy recovery processes to the municipal solid waste management system in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

PubMed

Toshiki, Kosuke; Giang, Pham Quy; Serrona, Kevin Roy B; Sekikawa, Takahiro; Yu, Jeoung-soo; Choijil, Baasandash; Kunikane, Shoichi

2015-02-01

Currently, most developing countries have not set up municipal solid waste management systems with a view of recovering energy from waste or reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In this article, we have studied the possible effects of introducing three energy recovery processes either as a single or combination approach, refuse derived fuel production, incineration and waste power generation, and methane gas recovery from landfill and power generation in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, as a case study. We concluded that incineration process is the most suitable as first introduction of energy recovery. To operate it efficiently, 3Rs strategies need to be promoted. And then, RDF production which is made of waste papers and plastics in high level of sorting may be considered as the second step of energy recovery. However, safety control and marketability of RDF will be required at that moment. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Safety Hazards During Intrahospital Transport: A Prospective Observational Study.

PubMed

Bergman, Lina M; Pettersson, Monica E; Chaboyer, Wendy P; Carlström, Eric D; Ringdal, Mona L

2017-10-01

To identify, classify, and describe safety hazards during the process of intrahospital transport of critically ill patients. A prospective observational study. Data from participant observations of the intrahospital transport process were collected over a period of 3 months. The study was undertaken at two ICUs in one university hospital. Critically ill patients transported within the hospital by critical care nurses, unlicensed nurses, and physicians. None. Content analysis was performed using deductive and inductive approaches. We detected a total of 365 safety hazards (median, 7; interquartile range, 4-10) during 51 intrahospital transports of critically ill patients, 80% of whom were mechanically ventilated. The majority of detected safety hazards were assessed as increasing the risk of harm, compromising patient safety (n = 204). Using the System Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety, we identified safety hazards related to the work system, as follows: team (n = 61), tasks (n = 83), tools and technologies (n = 124), environment (n = 48), and organization (n = 49). Inductive analysis provided an in-depth description of those safety hazards, contributing factors, and process-related outcomes. Findings suggest that intrahospital transport is a hazardous process for critically ill patients. We have identified several factors that may contribute to transport-related adverse events, which will provide the opportunity for the redesign of systems to enhance patient safety.

Waste management for different fusion reactor designs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rocco, Paolo; Zucchetti, Massimo

2000-12-01

Safety and Environmental Assessment of Fusion Power (SEAFP) waste management studies performed up to 1998 concerned three power tokamak designs. In-vessel structural materials consist of V-alloys or low activation martensitic (LAM) steel; tritium-producing materials are Li 2O, Pb-17Li, Li 4SiO 4 with a Be-multiplier; coolants are helium or water. The strategy chosen reduces permanent radwaste by recycling the in-vessel materials and by clearance of the other structures. Limits of the contact dose rate and specific activity of the waste allowing such options are defined accordingly. SEAFP activities for 1999 enlarge the analysis to three additional reactors with in-vessel structures made with SiC/SiC composites. These materials cannot be recycled due to their form and, according to national regulations of E.C. countries, long-lived activation products hinder near-surface burial (NSB).

Safety in the Chemical Laboratory: Chemical Wastes in Academic Labs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walton, Wendy A.

1987-01-01

Encourages instruction about disposal of hazardous wastes in college chemistry laboratories as an integral part of experiments done by students. Discusses methods such as down-the-drain disposal, lab-pack disposal, precipitation and disposal, and precipitation and recovery. Suggests that faculty and students take more responsibility for waste…

Design of patient rooms and automatic radioiodine-131 waste water management system for a thyroid cancer treatment ward: 'Suandok Model'.

PubMed

Vilasdechanon, N; Ua-Apisitwong, S; Chatnampet, K; Ekmahachai, M; Vilasdechanon, J

2014-09-01

The great benefit of (131)I radionuclide treatment for differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) was acknowledged by the long survival rate. The main requirements for (131)I therapy in hospital were treatment facilities and a radiation safety plan that assured radiation protection and safety to patient, hospital worker, public, and environment. To introduce the concepts and methods of radiation safety design for a patient's room in a (131)I treatment ward and a system of radioactive waste water management in hospital. The design was based on principles of external and internal radiation protection for unsealed source and radioactive waste management. Planning for treatment facilities was concluded from clinical evidence, physical and physiological information for (131)I, radiation safety criteria, hospital resources and budget. The three phases of the working process were: construction, software development, and radiation safety assessment. The (131)I treatment facility and automatic radioactive waste water management system was completely implemented in 2009. The radiation waste water management system known as the 'Suandok Model' was highly recommended by the national regulator to hospitals who desire to provide (131)I treatment for thyroid cancer. In 2011, the Nuclear Medicine Division, Chiang Mai University was rewarded by the national authority for a very good radiation practice in development of safe working conditions and environment. The Suandok Model was a facility design that fulfilled requirements for the safe use of high radiation (131)I doses for thyroid cancer treatment in hospital. The facility presented in this study may not be suitable for all hospitals but the design concepts could be applied according to an individual hospital context and resources. People who use or gain benefit from radiation applications have to emphasise the responsibility to control and monitor radiation effects on individuals, communities and the environment.

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) estimation: A case study of Ahvaz City, Iran.

PubMed

Alavi, Nadali; Shirmardi, Mohammad; Babaei, Aliakbar; Takdastan, Afshin; Bagheri, Nastaran

2015-03-01

The development of new technologies and the increasing consumption of electronic and electrical equipment have led to increased generation of e-waste in the municipal waste streams. This waste due to the presence of hazardous substances in its composition needs specific attention and management. The present study was carried out in Ahvaz metropolis using a survey method in 2011. For estimating the amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) generated, the "use and consumption" method was used. In order to determine the amounts of the electrical and electronic equipment that were used and their lifetime, and for investigating the current status of e-waste management in Ahvaz, an appropriate questionnaire was devised. In 2011, the total number of discarded electronic items was 2,157,742 units. According to the average weight of the equipment, the total generation of e-waste was 9952.25 metric tons per year and was 9.95 kg per capita per year. The highest e-waste generated was related to air conditioners, with 3125.36 metric tons per year, followed by the wastes from refrigerators and freezers, washing machines, and televisions. The wastes from desktop computers and laptops were 418 and 63 metric tons/year, respectively, and the corresponding values per capita were 0.42 and 0.063 kg, respectively. These results also showed that 10 tons fixed phones, 25 tons mobile phones, and by considering an average lifetime of 3 years for each lamp about 320 tons lamps were generated as e-waste in Ahvaz in the year 2011. Based on this study, currently there is not an integrated system for proper management of WEEE in Ahvaz, and this waste stream is collected and disposed of with other municipal waste. Some measures, including a specific collection system, recycling of valuable substances, and proper treatment and disposal, should be done about such waste. Ahvaz is one of the most important economic centers of Iran, and to the best of our knowledge, no study has been

Triangulation and the importance of establishing valid methods for food safety culture evaluation.

PubMed

Jespersen, Lone; Wallace, Carol A

2017-10-01

The research evaluates maturity of food safety culture in five multi-national food companies using method triangulation, specifically self-assessment scale, performance documents, and semi-structured interviews. Weaknesses associated with each individual method are known but there are few studies in food safety where a method triangulation approach is used for both data collection and data analysis. Significantly, this research shows that individual results taken in isolation can lead to wrong conclusions, resulting in potentially failing tactics and wasted investments. However, by applying method triangulation and reviewing results from a range of culture measurement tools it is possible to better direct investments and interventions. The findings add to the food safety culture paradigm beyond a single evaluation of food safety culture using generic culture surveys. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Korean Waste Management Law, Presidential Decree Number 13480, and Prime Minister Order Number 397

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-06-01

radioactive waste or substances that are contaminated by radioactivity and medical waste (which is regulated by Medical Law), wastewater (which is regulated...be exceeded when the domestic waste is disposed a. In case where water polutant , pursuant to Table 1 of toe Enforcement Regulaton in the Water...combustion burner and extra burner * Normal operation of safety facilities • Normal operation of preventive facilities * Density of polutant out of

E-waste issues in Sri Lanka and the Basel Convention.

PubMed

Suraweera, Inoka

2016-03-01

E-waste is hazardous, complex and expensive to treat in an environmentally sound manner. The management of e-waste is considered a serious challenge in both developed and developing countries and Sri Lanka is no exception. Due to significant growth in the economy and investments and other reasons the consumption of electronic and electrical equipment in Sri Lanka has increased over the years resulting in significant generation of e-waste. Several initiatives such as introduction of hazardous waste management rules, ratification of the Basel Convention in 1992 and the introduction of a National Corporate E-waste Management Program have been undertaken in Sri Lanka to manage e-waste. Strengthening policy and legislation, introducing methods for upstream reduction of e-waste, building capacity of relevant officers, awareness raising among school children and the general public and development of an e-waste information system are vital. Research on e-waste needs to be developed in Sri Lanka. The health sector could play a leading role in the provision of occupational health and safety for e-waste workers, advocacy, capacity building of relevant staff and raising awareness among the general public about e-waste. Improper e-waste management practices carried out by informal sector workers need to be addressed urgently in Sri Lanka.

Socioeconomic studies of high-level nuclear waste disposal.

PubMed Central

White, G F; Bronzini, M S; Colglazier, E W; Dohrenwend, B; Erikson, K; Hansen, R; Kneese, A V; Moore, R; Page, E B; Rappaport, R A

1994-01-01

The socioeconomic investigations of possible impacts of the proposed repository for high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, have been unprecedented in several respects. They bear on the public decision that sooner or later will be made as to where and how to dispose permanently of the waste presently at military weapons installations and that continues to accumulate at nuclear power stations. No final decision has yet been made. There is no clear precedent from other countries. The organization of state and federal studies is unique. The state studies involve more disciplines than any previous efforts. They have been carried out in parallel to federal studies and have pioneered in defining some problems and appropriate research methods. A recent annotated bibliography provides interested scientists with a compact guide to the 178 published reports, as well as to relevant journal articles and related documents. PMID:7971963

International Approaches for Nuclear Waste Disposal in Geological Formations: Report on Fifth Worldwide Review

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Faybishenko, Boris; Birkholzer, Jens; Persoff, Peter

2016-09-01

The goal of the Fifth Worldwide Review is to document evolution in the state-of-the-art of approaches for nuclear waste disposal in geological formations since the Fourth Worldwide Review that was released in 2006. The last ten years since the previous Worldwide Review has seen major developments in a number of nations throughout the world pursuing geological disposal programs, both in preparing and reviewing safety cases for the operational and long-term safety of proposed and operating repositories. The countries that are approaching implementation of geological disposal will increasingly focus on the feasibility of safely constructing and operating their repositories in short-more » and long terms on the basis existing regulations. The WWR-5 will also address a number of specific technical issues in safety case development along with the interplay among stakeholder concerns, technical feasibility, engineering design issues, and operational and post-closure safety. Preparation and publication of the Fifth Worldwide Review on nuclear waste disposal facilitates assessing the lessons learned and developing future cooperation between the countries. The Report provides scientific and technical experiences on preparing for and developing scientific and technical bases for nuclear waste disposal in deep geologic repositories in terms of requirements, societal expectations and the adequacy of cases for long-term repository safety. The Chapters include potential issues that may arise as repository programs mature, and identify techniques that demonstrate the safety cases and aid in promoting and gaining societal confidence. The report will also be used to exchange experience with other fields of industry and technology, in which concepts similar to the design and safety cases are applied, as well to facilitate the public perception and understanding of the safety of the disposal approaches relative to risks that may increase over long times frames in the absence of a

Developing Specifications for Waste Glass, Municipal Waste Combustor Ash and Waste Tires as Highway Fill Materials (Continuation): Final Report. Volume 2. Waste Glass.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-04-01

A two year study was conducted as a continuation project for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to evaluate Municipal Waste Combustor (MWD) ash, Waste Glass, and Waste Tires for use as general highway fill. Initial studies conducted at F...

Developing Specifications for Waste Glass, Municipal Waste Combustor Ash and Waste Tires as Highway Fill Materials (Continuation). Final Report. Volume 3. Waste Tires.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-04-01

A two year study was conducted as a continuation project for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to evaluate Municipal Waste Combustor (MWC) ash, Waste Glass, and Waste Tires for use as general highway fill. Initial studies conducted at F...

Critical Characteristics of Radiation Detection System Components to be Dedicated for use in Safety Class and Safety Significant System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

DAVIS, S.J.

2000-05-25

This document identifies critical characteristics of components to be dedicated for use in Safety Class (SC) or Safety Significant (SS) Systems, Structures, or Components (SSCs). This document identifies the requirements for the components of the common radiation area monitor alarm in the WESF pool cell. These are procured as Commercial Grade Items (CGI), with the qualification testing and formal dedication to be performed at the Waste Encapsulation Storage Facility (WESF), in safety class, safety significant systems. System modifications are to be performed in accordance with the instructions provided on ECN 658230. Components for this change are commercially available and interchangeablemore » with the existing alarm configuration This document focuses on the operational requirements for alarm, declaration of the safety classification, identification of critical characteristics, and interpretation of requirements for procurement. Critical characteristics are identified herein and must be verified, followed by formal dedication, prior to the components being used in safety related applications.« less

Medical and biohazardous waste generator`s guide: Revision 1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1994-09-01

This Guide describes the procedures required to comply with all federal and state laws and regulations and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL) policy applicable to medical and biohazardous waste. The members of the LBL Biological Safety Subcommittee participated in writing these policies and procedures. The procedures and policies in this Guide apply to LBL personnel who work with infectious agents or potentially infectious agents, publicly perceived infectious items or materials (e.g., medical gloves, culture dishes), and sharps (e.g., needles, syringes, razor blades). If medical or biohazardous waste is contaminated or mixed with a hazardous chemical or material, with a radioactive material,more » or with both, the waste will be handled in accordance with the applicable federal and State of California laws and regulations for hazardous, radioactive, or mixed waste.« less

Study on detecting leachate leakage of municipal solid waste landfill site.

PubMed

Liu, Jiangang; Cao, Xianxian; Ai, Yingbo; Zhou, Dongdong; Han, Qiting

2015-06-01

The article studies the detection of the leakage passage of leachate in a waste landfill dam. The leachate of waste landfill has its own features, like high conductivity, high chroma and an increasing temperature, also, the horizontal flow velocity of groundwater on the leakage site increases. This article proposes a comprehensive tracing method to identify the leakage site of an impermeable membrane by using these features. This method has been applied to determine two leakage sites of the Yahu municipal solid waste landfill site in Pingshan District, Shenzhen, China, which shows that there are two leachate leakage passages in the waste landfill dam A between NZK-2 and NZK-3, and between NZK-6 and NZK-7. © The Author(s) 2015.

Healthcare waste generation and management practice in government health centers of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

PubMed

Tadesse, Menelik Legesse; Kumie, Abera

2014-11-25

Healthcare wastes are hazardous organic and inorganic wastes. The waste disposal management in Addis Ababa city is seen unscientific manner. The waste management practice in the health facilities are poor and need improvement. This study will help different organizations, stakeholders and policy makers to correct and improve the existing situation of healthcare waste legislation and enforcement and training of staff in the healthcare facilities in Addis Ababa. The study aimed to assess the existing generation and management practice of healthcare waste in selected government health centers of Addis Ababa. The cross-sectional study was conducted to quantify waste generation rate and evaluate its management system. The study area was Addis Ababa. The sample size was determined by simple random sampling technique, the sampling procedure involved 10 sub-cities of Addis Ababa. Data were collected using both waste collecting and measuring equipment and check list. The Data was entered by EPI INFO version 6.04d and analyzed by and SPSS for WINDOW version15. The mean (±SD) healthcare waste generation rate was 9.61 ± 3.28 kg/day of which (38%) 3.64 ± 1.45 kg/day was general or non-hazardous waste and (62%) 5.97 ± 2.31 kg/day was hazardous. The mean healthcare waste generation rate between health centers was a significant different with Kurskal-Wallis test (χ2 = 21.83, p-value = 0.009). All health centers used safety boxes for collection of sharp wastes and all health centers used plastic buckets without lid for collection and transportation of healthcare waste. Pre treatment of infectious wastes was not practiced by any of the health centers. All health centers used incinerators and had placenta pit for disposal of pathological waste however only seven out of ten pits had proper covering material. Segregation of wastes at point of generation with appropriate collection materials and pre- treatment of infectious waste before disposal should be practiced

Solid rocket propellant waste disposal/ingredient recovery study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcintosh, M. J.

1976-01-01

A comparison of facility and operating costs of alternate methods shows open burning to be the lowest cost incineration method of waste propellant disposal. The selection, development, and implementation of an acceptable alternate is recommended. The recovery of ingredients from waste propellant has the probability of being able to pay its way, and even show a profit, when large consistent quantities of composite propellant are available. Ingredients recovered from space shuttle waste propellant would be worth over $1.5 million. Open and controlled burning are both energy wasteful.

Nanotechnology Safety Self-Study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grogin, Phillip W.

2016-03-29

Nanoparticles are near-atomic scale structures between 1 and 100 nanometers (one billionth of a meter). Engineered nanoparticles are intentionally created and are used in research and development at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). This course, Nanotechnology Safety Self-Study, presents an overview of the hazards, controls, and uncertainties associated with the use of unbound engineered nanoscale particles (UNP) in a laboratory environment.

Synthetic fuel for imitation of municipal solid waste in experimental studies of waste incineration.

PubMed

Thipse, S S; Sheng, C; Booty, M R; Magee, R S; Dreizin, E L

2001-08-01

Synthetic fuel is prepared to imitate municipal solid waste (MSW) in experimental studies of incineration processes. The fuel is composed based on the Environmental Protection Agency reports on the materials contained in MSW. Uniform synthetic fuel pellets are prepared using available and inexpensive components including newsprint, hardwood mulch, low density polyethylene, iron, animal feed, sand, and water to imitate paperbound, wood, yard trimming, plastic, metal, food wastes, and other materials in MSW. The synthetic fuel preparation procedure enables one to reproduce and modify the fuel for a wide range of experiments in which the mechanisms of waste incineration are addressed. The fuel is characterized using standard ASTM tests and it is shown that its parameters, such as combustion enthalpy, density, as well as moisture, ash and fixed carbon contents are adequate for the representation of municipal solid waste. In addition, chlorine, nitrogen, and sulfur contents of the fuel are shown to be similar to those of MSW. Experiments are conducted in which the synthetic fuel is used for operation of a pilot-scale incinerator research facility. Steady-state temperature operation regimes are achieved and reproduced in these experiments. Thermodynamic equilibrium flame conditions are computed using an isentropic one-dimensional equilibrium code for a wide range of fuel/air ratios. The molecular species used to represent the fuel composition included cellulose, water, iron, polyethylene, methanamine, and silica. The predicted concentrations of carbon monoxide, nitric oxides, and oxygen in the combustion products are compared with the respective experimental concentrations in the pilot-scale incinerator exhaust.

Anaerobic digestion potential of urban organic waste: a case study in Malmö.

PubMed

Davidsson, Asa; Jansen, Jes la Cour; Appelqvist, Björn; Gruvberger, Christopher; Hallmer, Martin

2007-04-01

A study of existing organic waste types in Malmö, Sweden was performed. The purpose was to gather information about organic waste types in the city to be able to estimate the potential for anaerobic treatment in existing digesters at the wastewater treatment plan (WWTP). The urban organic waste types that could have a significant potential for anaerobic digestion amount to about 50 000 tonnes year(-1) (sludge excluded). Some of the waste types were further evaluated by methane potential tests and continuous pilot-scale digestion. Single-substrate digestion and co-digestion of pre-treated, source-sorted organic fraction of municipal solid waste, wastewater sludge, sludge from grease traps and fruit and vegetable waste were carried out. The experiments showed that codigestion of grease sludge and WWTP sludge was a better way of making use of the methane potential in the grease trap sludge than single-substrate digestion. Another way of increasing the methane production in sludge digesters is to add source-sorted organic fraction of municipal solid waste (SSOFMSW). Adding SSOFMSW (20% of the total volatile solids) gave a 10-15% higher yield than could be expected by comparison with separate digestion of sludge respective SSOFMSW. Co-digestion of sludge and organic waste is beneficial not just for increasing gas production but also for stabilizing the digestion process. This was seen when co-digesting fruit and vegetable waste and sludge. When co-digested with sludge, this waste gave a better result than the separate digestion of fruit and vegetable waste. Considering single-substrate digestion, SSOFMSW is the only waste in the study which makes up a sufficient quantity to be suitable as the base substrate in a full-scale digester that is separated from the sludge digestion. The two types of SSOFMSW tested in the pilot-scale digestion were operated successfully at mesophilic temperature. By adding SSOFMSW, grease trap sludge and fruit and vegetables waste to sludge

77 FR 4048 - Safety and Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-26

... occupational safety and health services, and the prevention of work-related injury and illness. It is... the magnitude of the aggregate health burden associated with occupational injuries and illnesses, as... Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, (NIOSH) In...

76 FR 52330 - Safety and Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-22

... occupational safety and health services, and the prevention of work-related injury and illness. It is... the magnitude of the aggregate health burden associated with occupational injuries and illnesses, as... Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) In...

78 FR 64504 - Safety and Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-29

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Safety and Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH or..., Number 177, Pages 56235-56236. Contact Person for More Information: Price Connor, Ph.D., NIOSH Health...

77 FR 51810 - Safety and Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-27

... occupational safety and health services, and the prevention of work-related injury and illness. It is... the magnitude of the aggregate health burden associated with occupational injuries and illnesses, as... Occupational Health Study Section (SOHSS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) In...

National Conference on Campus Safety (14th, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, June 26-28, 1967).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Green, Jack N. Ed.

Presentations made at the fourteenth National Conference on Campus Safety. The topics dealt with include--(1) Provisions for Safety in Design of Campus Buildings, (2) Disposal of Chemical And Radioactive Waste, (3) Fire Prevention, (4) The Human Factor in Accidents, (5) Public Liability through Design, (6) A Professor's Views on Safety, (7)…

RH-TRU Waste Inventory Characterization by AK and Proposed WIPP RH-TRU Waste Characterization Objectives

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Most, W. A.; Kehrman, R.; Gist, C.

2002-02-26

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) has developed draft documentation to present the proposed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) remote-handled (RH-) transuranic (TRU) waste characterization program to its regulators, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New Mexico Environment Department. Compliance with Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, Parts 191 and 194; the WIPP Land Withdrawal Act (PL 102-579); and the WIPP Hazardous Waste Facility Permit, as well as the Certificates of Compliance for the 72-B and 10-160B Casks, requires that specific waste parameter limits be imposed on DOE sites disposing of TRU waste at WIPP. Themore » DOE-CBFO must control the sites' compliance with the limits by specifying allowable characterization methods. As with the established WIPP contact handled TRU waste characterization program, the DOE-CBFO has proposed a Remote-Handled TRU Waste Acceptance Criteria (RH-WAC) document consolidating the requirements from various regulatory drivers and proposed allowable characterization methods. These criteria are consistent with the recommendation of a recent National Academy Sciences/National Research Council to develop an RH-TRU waste characterization approach that removes current self imposed requirements that lack a legal or safety basis. As proposed in the draft RH-WAC and other preliminary documents, the DOE-CBFO RH-TRU waste characterization program proposes the use of acceptable knowledge (AK) as the primary method for obtaining required characterization information. The use of AK involves applying knowledge of the waste in light of the materials or processes used to generate the waste. Documentation, records, or processes providing information about various attributes of a waste stream, such as chemical, physical, and radiological properties, may be used as AK and may be applied to individual waste containers either independently or in conjunction with radiography, visual examination, assay

Developing a master plan for hospital solid waste management: A case study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Karamouz, Mohammad; Zahraie, Banafsheh; Kerachian, Reza

2007-07-01

Disposal of about 1750 tons of solid wastes per day is the result of a rapid population growth in the province of Khuzestan in the south west of Iran. Most of these wastes, especially hospital solid wastes which have contributed to the pollution of the environment in the study area, are not properly managed considering environmental standards and regulations. In this paper, the framework of a master plan for managing hospital solid wastes is proposed considering different criteria which are usually used for evaluating the pollution of hospital solid waste loads. The effectiveness of the management schemes is also evaluated.more » In order to rank the hospitals and determine the share of each hospital in the total hospital solid waste pollution load, a multiple criteria decision making technique, namely analytical hierarchy process (AHP), is used. A set of projects are proposed for solid waste pollution control and reduction in the proposed framework. It is partially applied for hospital solid waste management in the province of Khuzestan, Iran. The results have shown that the hospitals located near the capital city of the province, Ahvaz, produce more than 43% of the total hospital solid waste pollution load of the province. The results have also shown the importance of improving management techniques rather than building new facilities. The proposed methodology is used to formulate a master plan for hospital solid waste management.« less

Applications Where Snap is BPM for Radioactive Waste Assay

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Miller, T.J.

2008-07-01

Historically, the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) at Aldermaston in the United Kingdom (UK), has used a variety of assay techniques to measure the radioactive content of a diverse range of waste packages from decommissioning, operational and legacy sources. The regulator, the Environment Agency in the UK, places conditions and limits on AWE through an authorisation within the Radioactive Substances Act (RSA93). The conditions and limits require Best Practical Means (BPM) measurements to be used to demonstrate compliance with the authorisation. Hence, the assay technique employed needs to achieve a balance between risk of exposure, environmental considerations, technological considerations, health andmore » safety considerations and cost effectiveness, without being grossly disproportionate in terms of money, time or trouble. Recently published work has concluded that the Spectral Non-destructive Assay Platform (SNAP) assay system is BPM for Depleted Uranium (DU) waste assay at AWE (1) and low level plutonium in soft drummed waste, HEPA filters and soils (2-4). The purpose of this paper is to highlight other applications where SNAP represents BPM for radioactive waste assay. This has been done by intercomparison studies of SNAP with other assay techniques, such as Segmented Gamma Scanner (SGS) and Passive Neutron Coincidence Counter (PNCC). It has been concluded that, for a large range of waste packages encountered at AWE, SNAP is BPM. (author)« less

Flammable Gas Safety Self-Study 52827

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Glass, George

2016-03-17

This course, Flammable Gas Safety Self-Study (COURSE 52827), presents an overview of the hazards and controls associated with commonly used, compressed flammable gases at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

Shared responsibility for managing electronic waste: a case study of Maine, USA.

PubMed

Wagner, Travis P

2009-12-01

Based on high disposal and low recycling rates of electronic waste (e-waste) and continued exportation to developing countries, reliance on municipal responsibility for e-waste management has been unsuccessful in the United States. This case study examines Maine's program, which was the first US state to mandate producer responsibility for recycling household e-waste. Maine's program established a shared cost responsibility among producers, municipalities, and consumers. The study found that Maine's program resulted in a significant reduction in disposal and a corresponding increase in environmentally sound recycling. In the first 3 years of the program, 6.406 million kg of household e-waste was collected and recycled for a population of 1.32 million. The new program, implemented in 2006, increased the number of e-waste items collected and recycled by 108% in the first year, 170% in the second year, and 221% in the third year. The program decreased direct economic costs to municipalities and households because of the shared cost approach and for the first time established costs for producers. There was no empirical evidence indicating that producers have or will improve the recyclability of electronic products to reduce recycling costs. While other weaknesses were that found potentially limit the adoption of Maine's program, its positive aspects warrant consideration by other governments.

Modeling the Relationship between Safety Climate and Safety Performance in a Developing Construction Industry: A Cross-Cultural Validation Study

PubMed Central