Are there different kinds of radioactive waste?
Yes, radioactive waste sorts into six general categories : • spent nuclear fuel from nuclear reactors, • high-level radioactive waste from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel; • transuranic radioactive waste, resulting mainly from manufacture of nuclear weapons; • uranium mill tailings from the mining and milling of uranium ore; • low-level radioactive waste, generally in the form of radioactively contaminated industrial or research waste; and • naturally occurring radioactive material. Mixed waste contains both radioactive and chemical components. Mixed waste is not a category of nuclear waste because depending on the source and level of radioactivity, the waste may be categorized, for instance, as low-level versus high-level radioactive waste.
