MANAGING NUCLEAR WASTE
Many countries, such as the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, use near surface disposal ILW materials for short periods of time at these disposal sites. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recommends that near surface disposal can be used in near-surface facilities at ground level. These facilities can be set up with engineered barriers, or without the engineered barriers. When nuclear waste (LLW) is stored at surface level, there is a protective
covering placed over the materials that is a few meters thick. The wasted containers are put in vaults, and after the vaults are filled, and then they are backfilled. Eventually they will be covered and capped with an impermeable membrane. Then the membrane is covered with topsoil. Often these facilities will be built with some sort of drainage system added, and sometimes there are 15