Are there any “rules” for radioactive waste disposal?
Yes, and in most countries the rules are very strict. In the UK, the performance of any waste disposal facility is subject to radiological risk limits and targets. Radiological risk is a measure of the probability of cancer induction from repository derived wastes, and in the UK, the risk limit is this: in one year, there should be nor more than one fatal cancer induction per million people from repository derived wastes. To provide some context, this risk limit is about 100 times smaller than the radiological risk that results from natural background radiation.
