What is low-level waste?

     Low-level radioactive waste consists of all nuclear refuse aside from used nuclear power plant fuel. It includes contaminated filters and other components from nuclear plants, tools and laboratory equipment from hospitals and universities, protective clothing and other irradiated trash. The waste can be a public-health menace for hundreds of years, so the government has strict requirements for its handling and disposal.
     States currently send their waste to disposal facilities in South Carolina, Utah and Washington. North Carolina's nuclear power plants, universities and other facilities have been storing much of their waste on site because South Carolina has refused to accept waste from its northern neighbor since 1995, after North Carolina missed deadlines to build a new facility.
     Since 1980, improvements in technology and higher disposal costs have enabled companies and institutions to slash the amount of low-level radioactive waste they produce, prompting questions about whether landfills such as the one planned for southwest Wake County are still necessary.