Management of Commercially Generated Radioactive Waste - U.S. ...

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Kaolinite: A common clay consisting mainly of hydrous aluminum silicate and closely related
in chemical composition and crystal structure.
Kilowatt-hour (kWh): Use of electricity for one hour at a rate of 1000 watts.
Levelized Unit Cost: Capital and operating charges translated into an equivalent constant
(or level) annual unit cost.
Light Water Reactor (LWR): May be either a BWR or PWR; uses as coolant ordinary water (H 20)
instead of heavy water (D 20).
Lithification: The conversion of unconsolidated sediment into solid rock by processes such
as compaction, cementation, and crystallization.
Lithology: The study of rocks. Also the character of a rock: its structure, color,
mineral composition, grain size, and arrangement of its component parts.
Lithostatic pressure: The confining pressure at depth in the crust of the earth due to the
weight of the overlying rocks.
Littoral: Belonging to, inhabiting or taking place on or near the shore of a body of water.
Low Enriched Uranium (LEU): Uranium containg less than 5% by weight but greater than 0.72%
by weight 23 5 U.
M&M Shaft: Men and Materials shaft at a mined repository.
Mafic: Pertaining to or composed dominantly of magnesium rock-forming silicates.
Magmatism: The development, movement, and solidification to igneous rock, of magma, a naturally
occurring mobile rock material, generated within the earth and capable of intrusion
and extrusion.
Maximum Individual, Maximum-Exposed Individual: A person whose location and habits tend to
maximize his radiation dose.
Megawatts (MW): Millions of watts.
Mica: A group of silicate minerals of aluminium and other bases, especially potassium, magnesium,
and iron, and characterized by great perfection of cleavage in one direction, that
produces thin, tough, elastic plates.
Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Plant (MOX-FFP): Plant where uranium oxide and plutonium oxide
are mixed and fabricated into fuel elements for use in nuclear power plants.
MOX: Mixed oxides (of uranium and plutonium).
MTHM: Metric tons of heavy metal (usually refers to reactor fuel, in which the heavy metals
are uranium and plutonium).
Mucking and/or Settling Ponds: Ponds next to drilling operations where the excavated mud
or slurry is placed; the sediment that settles at the bottom of these ponds is called
muck.
Multibarrier: A system using the waste form, the container (canister), the overpack, the
emplacement medium, and surrounding geologic media as multiple barriers to isolate the
waste from the biosphere.
NAS: National Academy of Sciences.
NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
NCRP: National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement.