Hazard index for underground toxic material

Technical Report · Sun Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1980

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5180369· OSTI ID:5180369

Smith, C F; Cohen, J J; McKone, T E

To adequately define the problem of waste management, quantitative measures of hazard must be used. This study reviews past work in the area of hazard indices and proposes a geotoxicity hazard index for use in characterizing the hazard of toxic material buried underground. Factors included in this index are: an intrinsic toxicity factor, formulated as the volume of water required for dilution to public drinking-water levels; a persistence factor to characterize the longevity of the material, ranging from unity for stable materials to smaller values for shorter-lived materials; an availability factor that relates the transport potential for the particular material to a reference value for its naturally occurring analog; and a correction factor to accommodate the buildup of decay progeny, resulting in increased toxicity.

• Research Organization: California Univ., Livermore (USA). Lawrence Livermore Lab.
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 5180369
• Report Number(s): UCRL-52889
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052000 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Management
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
510100* -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Basic Studies-- (-1989)
520100 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Basic Studies-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RISK ASSESSMENT
STABILITY
TOXICITY
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES