Figure 1. Midwest Compact Low-Level Radioactive Waste by Volume (Cubic Feet) and by Activity (Curies)
Audeen W. Fentiman
Ronald B. Meyers
Low-level radioactive waste has been generated for decades by nuclear power plants, industry, hospitals, universities, research institutions, and government facilities. According to federal law, each state is responsible for disposing of commercial low-level radioactive waste generated within its borders. States may form groups, called compacts, to share that responsibility. Ohio is part of the Midwest Compact; the other members are Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Every twenty years, a different member state will have responsibility for hosting the Midwest Compact's low-level radioactive waste disposal facility. Of the six member states, Ohio was projected to generate the greatest volume of low-level waste over the first twenty years, and therefore, has been selected as the first host state. This fact sheet provides information on the types of low-level waste generators in each of the Midwest Compact states and the volume and activity of the wastes generated in each state in recent years.
The number of commercial generators of low-level radioactive waste in each state varies from year to year as licenses to use radioactive materials are issued or terminated, and as the activities of the generators change. As of 1995, the number of low-level waste generators in Midwest Compact states ranged from 11 in Iowa to 59 in Ohio. Table 1 shows the total number of generators in each state and the number in each of the five categories of generators: utilities, medical facilities, industry, academic institutions, and government facilities not related to nuclear weapons.
| Table 1. Commercial Low-Level Radioactive Waste Generators in the Midwest Compact in 1995 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Number of Utility Generators* | Number of Medical Generators | Number of Industry Generators | Number of Academic Generators | Number of Government Generators | Total |
| Indiana | 1** | 4 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 21 |
| Iowa | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 11 |
| Minnesota | 3 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 27 |
| Missouri | 1 | 5 | 16 | 8 | 1 | 31 |
| Ohio | 2 | 12 | 25 | 17 | 3 | 59 |
| Wisconsin | 4 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 1 | 27 |
| TOTALS | 12 | 26 | 74 | 55 | 9 | 176 |
| * Sometimes a utility will install more than one reactor at a site. In those cases, each reactor is counted as a generator. | ||||||
| ** This is not a nuclear power plant. The utility used a sealed radioactive source to make measurements in a coal-fired plant | ||||||
The amount of low-level radioactive waste produced is usually described in two ways. One way is to give the volume of the waste (in cubic feet or cubic meters). The other way is to give the activity, expressed in Curies. A Curie is a unit that indicates the rate at which radiation is given off by the radioactive material in the waste. Figure 1 shows the volume of low-level waste delivered to commercial disposal facilities from each of the six Midwest Compact states for each of the six years from 1989 through 1994. Figure 2 shows the activity of the low-level waste from each state for the same six years. More detailed information on the volume and activity of waste produced by each type of commercial low-level waste generator (nuclear power plants, medical institutions, etc.) is presented in RER-12, "Who Creates Low-Level Radioactive Waste and What Are They Doing With It?"
Figure 1. Midwest Compact Low-Level Radioactive Waste by Volume (Cubic Feet)
and by Activity (Curies)
To help visualize the volume of waste generated, consider that a meeting room 40 feet wide, 50 feet long, and 10 feet high (40 ft. x 50 ft. x 10 ft.) contains 20,000 cubic feet.
Data for the graphs in this fact sheet are from a series of reports entitled "State-by-State Assessment of Low-Level Radioactive Wastes Received at Commercial Disposal Sites," prepared by the National Low-Level Waste Management Program in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Is the amount of low-level waste "received at commercial disposal sites" equal to the amount of low-level waste generated? Generators generally send low-level waste to a disposal site as soon as practical, but they often compact the waste to reduce its volume before shipping. Wastes with short half-lives held by the generators for decay in storage are not disposed of as low-level waste and are not included in the data presented here.
As can be seen in Figures 1 and 2, the volume and activity of waste from any state can vary significantly from year to year. The volumes and activities depend on the tasks the generators perform, and those tasks change from year to year.
If you want to read more about the volumes and activities of low-level radioactive waste generated by states, some of the references below may be helpful.
National Low-Level Waste Management Program, "1994 State-by-State Assessment of Low-Level Radioactive Wastes Received at Commercial Disposal Sites," September 1995. (Books by the same title are produced each year, and data for this fact sheet came from the volumes for 1989 through 1994.)
Other fact sheets in this series:
RER-12, "Who Creates Low-Level Radioactive Waste and What Are They Doing With It?"
Dr. Audeen W. Fentiman is an Associate Professor in Nuclear Engineering at The Ohio State University. Ronald B. Meyers is a Graduate Research Associate, Ohio State University Extension.
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Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Keith L. Smith, Director, Ohio State University Extension.
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