How is radwaste classified?
Classification of radioactive waste should address physical state, type of radiation emitted (alpha, beta, gamma), radioactivity content, semidisintegration period of the radionuclides it contains, heat generation, etc. The physical state of waste can be solid, liquid or gasesous. Waste is classified by radioactive content into low-, medium- and high radioactivity waste. By using traditional units such as the curie (Ci) to measure radioactivity, there is a simple rule that gives an idea of the order of magnitude of the radioactive content that corresponds to each of these three categories. Low-activity waste contains up to several millicuries (mCi) per liter of waste, medium-activity waste contains several curies per liter, and high-activity waste contains several hundreds or thousands of curies per liter. The semidisintegration period of radionuclides can be very short, short or long. Very short-lived radionuclides decay rapidly, and therefore do not have to be taken into account for
