nuclear pollution and nuclear waste

management
It is not only the use of fossil fuels that pollutes our surrounding but even the use of nuclear
energy gives rise to pollutants and hence pollutes our environment. Also the pollution caused by
the use of nuclear energy from fission process is much more damaging than pollution caused by
burning fossil fuels.

The fuels like U- 235 are radioactive substances which keep on emitting some nuclear radiations
all the time. The dangerous nuclear radiations can enter into the environment- by leakage from
nuclear reactors where fission of U-235 is going on. These nuclear radiations can cause damage
to cells and in some cases even lead to death.

The waste materials produced during the various steps of the nuclear energy production are
collectively known as nuclear wastes. If these radioactive wastes are dumped in garbage bins,
they will emit nuclear radiations and pose a threat to the life of men and animals. If they are
dumped in rivers or sea, they will contaminate water and damage aquatic life.

This has become an issue of legitimate concern to the public after the Chernobyl accident of
Russia. More 99% of the total radioactivity in the entire nuclear fuel cycle is generated from the
fuel processing plants. To ensure that this highly radioactive waste does not pose any hazards to
the environment. For this purpose, a three stage approach has been adopted.

First the waste will be incorporated in stable and inert solid matrices. The conditioned waste will
then be placed in canisters and kept in a retrieval store under cooling and constant surveillance.
Ultimately, the canisters stored in suitable place. A waste immobilization plant for incorporating
the high level radioactive wastes generated from the fuel processing plants is being set up along
with the solid storage surveillance facility of Tarapur.

Immobilization involves verification of radioactive waste which is coded at underground

disposal. The canisters in storage are air cooked by natural convection and when the heat
radioactivity decay to desired level, they are transported to a suitable geological formation for
ultimate storage. A graveyard for storage of nuclear wastes has been established in Trombay for
nuclear waste disposal.
 Vermicomposting
Vermicomposting is a composting technique which uses red worms to accelerate the composting
process. Three to six months of vermicomposting will create thick, rich soil to spread on plants
and flowerbeds, depending on the container and the amount of household scraps generated. In
addition to being an excellent composting tool for regular gardeners, vermicomposting can also
be undertaken in small spaces, like city apartments, and it is sometimes used as an educational
tool in classrooms.

The process starts with the worm box, which can vary widely in size but should always be
shallow and properly aerated, so that the worms can breathe while they eat. The worm box is
seeded with moistened bedding materials such as shredded newspaper, peat moss, and corrugated
cardboard. A small amount of soil or sand is added to encourage digestion, along with a minimal
amount of powdered limestone. Finally, the worms themselves are introduced: most
vermicomposting households use Eisenia foetida or Lumbricus rubellas, which are readily
available from many garden supply stores.

It is important to start out slowly when vermicomposting, so a small amount of food scraps is
introduced at the beginning of the process, to allow the worms to adjust. The amount of food
scraps can gradually be increased, although if the box begins to smell or attract flies, the food
should be reduced again. A healthy vermicomposting box should have minimal odor, and will
start to collect rich, healthy black soil and worm castings after only a few weeks. Most food
scraps are usable for vermicomposting, although animal products like bone, flesh, and dairy
should be used in minimal amounts. Most vermicompsters keep a small food scrap bucket in the
kitchen which is emptied every few days.

After three to six months, the box will be filled with rich, healthy, nutritious soil. In addition,
most pathogens which might have been present will be dead after passing through the digestive
system of the worms. The soil can be used sparingly on growing plants, to mulch dormant beds,
or mixed with water to make a highly nutritious liquid spray. But first, the worm box has to be
emptied, so that the worms can be removed and used to start another vermicomposting box.

There are several techniques for emptying a worm box. The most basic involves upending the
worm box onto a tarp or another sturdy material and forming the soil into loose piles. The worms
will burrow in the piles to avoid light, and the worms can be scooped out of them easily and
dropped into a new worm box to start the process all over again.

Benefits

 Improves soil aeration

 Enriches soil with micro-organisms (adding enzymes such as phosphatase and cellulase)
 Improves water holding capacity[28]

 Enhances germination, plant growth, and crop yield

 Improves root growth and structure

 Production reduces greenhouse gas emissions such as methane and nitric oxide (produced in
landfills or incinerators when not composted or through methane harvest)[30]
 Weathering of Rocks
Weathering is the alteration of rocks to more stable material from their exposure to the agents of
air, water, and organic fluids. No rock is stable or immune to weathering. Many pathways and
agents are involved in weathering, but most can be grouped into two main processes: mechanical
and chemical weathering.

Mechanical weathering includes processes that fragment and disintegrate rocks into smaller
pieces without changing the rock's mineral composition. Chemical weathering is the alteration of
the rock into new minerals. Both pathways constitute weathering, but one process may dominate
over the other.

Mechanical Weathering

Any process that exerts a stress on a rock that eventually causes it to break into smaller
fragments is a type of mechanical weathering. The process of water freezing in rocks is probably
one of the most important forms of mechanical weathering. On freezing, water expands 9
percent. If it is occupying a crack completely, the crack will grow. Continued cycles of freezing
and thawing in rocks containing water will cause them to fragment into smaller pieces. This is
called frost wedging.

The absorption of water by swelling clays, called smectites, causes rocks to split. Plant roots also
wedge themselves into cracks in rocks and break them up. Forest fires cause the outsides of
rocks to expand, crack parallel to the surface, and eventually "spall" off. Salt crystals might form
in pores of rocks from the evaporation of sea mist and cause the pores to break apart. Rocks
under pressure from an overburden of rocks and sediment might form cracks parallel to the
surface when the overburden is removed by erosion, and the rocks expand from this pressure
release. These joints are called exfoliation cracks.

Each of these is an example of mechanical weathering: The rocks have shattered, but their
minerals have remained the same. Examples of mechanical weathering are dominant in cold
climates, where chemical weathering occurs at such slow rates that the fragmentation processes
are obvious.

Chemical Weathering

The process of chemical weathering generally occurs in the soil where water and minerals are in
constant contact. Agents of weathering are oxygen, air pollution, water, carbonic acid, and strong
acids. They combine with the minerals in rocks to form clays, iron oxides, and salts, which are
the endpoints of chemical weathering.

Water plays a very important role in chemical weathering in three different ways. First, it
combines with carbon dioxide in the soil to form a weak acid called carbonic acid. Microbe
respiration generates abundant soil carbon dioxide, and rainwater (also containing atmospheric
carbon dioxide) percolating through the soil provides the water. Carbonic acid slowly dissolves
away minerals in rock, especially the carbonate minerals that make up limestone and marble. The
weak acid decomposes the insoluble rock into watersoluble products that move into the
groundwater. In high concentrations, these dissolved minerals can cause the water to be
considered "hard."

Second, water can hydrate minerals by being adsorbed onto the mineral lattice. The conversion
of anhydrite into gypsum is an example.
Finally, the water can break up minerals through hydrolysis . The most common group of
minerals, the silicates, is decomposed by this process. Reactive hydrogen ions that are liberated
from the water attack the crystal lattice, and the mineral decomposes.

Other agents of chemical weathering are gases and acids. Oxygen combines with the metals in
minerals to form oxides such as hematite, limonite, and goethite. They are just like the rust that
forms on metal exposed to rain or moisture. Air pollution that contributes to weathering of rock
generally contains weak concentrations of strong acids such as sulfuric and nitric acid. Strong
acids escaping from steam vents around volcanoes and abandoned mine sites can also contribute
to increased weathering of nearby rocks.

The rates of chemical weathering depend on many factors. First, the more water in the system,
the faster the weathering. Second, the higher the temperature, the faster the weathering. So, the
fastest rates of chemical weathering tend to occur in the hot, humid tropics. Third, the more
mineral surface area exposed in the rock by joints, the faster the weathering. The increased
number of cracks in the rock will allow the agents of water and oxygen to interact more intensely
with the minerals.

Finally, the type of minerals in the rock will also dictate rates. For example, rocks with less
quartz and more calcium feldspars (mafic igneous rocks) will weather faster than rocks with
more quartz and sodium feldspars (felsic igneous rocks).