Waste – High School
1. Who keeps the public informed during a clean up?
A. public relations specialists
B. hazardous materials removal workers
C. cartographers
D. compliance officers
2. Who identifies, removes, packs, transports or disposes of hazardous or radioactive materials?
A. hazardous materials removal workers
B. cartographers
C. compliance officers
D. public relations specialists
3. Who creates maps and charts of contaminated areas?
A. cartographers
B. compliance officers
C. public relations specialists
D. hazardous materials removal workers
4. Who makes sure the rules and regulations for cleaning up hazardous waste are followed?
A. compliance officers
B. public relations specialists
C. hazardous materials removal workers
D. cartographers
5. What are the characteristics that make chemical waste hazardous?
A. how ignitable, corrosive, reactive or toxic it is
B. how soluble, smelly, sticky or stable it is
C. how reactive, soluble, or heavy it is
D. the amount of it and whether it can be recycled into something else
Correct Answer - A
Waste – High School
6. How is waste classified if it can create fires spontaneously under certain conditions?
A. as ignitable
B. as corrosive
C. as reactive
D. as toxic
7. How is waste classified if it has a pH less than or equal to 2 or greater than or equal to 12.5?
A. as corrosive
B. as reactive
C. as toxic
D. as ignitable
8. How is waste classified if it is unstable under normal conditions of temperature and mositure?
A. as reactive
B. as toxic
C. as ignitable
D. as corrosive
9. How is waste classified if it is harmful or fatal when ingested or absorbed?
A. as toxic
B. as ignitable
C. as corrosive
D. as reactive
10. Which federal act regulates hazardous waste?
A. the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
B. the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy of 1980
C. the Basel Convention
D. the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 and its amendements
Correct Answer - A
Waste – High School
11. Which of these is an international treaty primarily designed to prevent transfer of hazardous waste from a developed
country to a less developed country?
A. the Basel Convention
B. the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
C. the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy of 1980
D. the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 and its amendements
12. Which of these provides for cleanup of hazardous wastes in emergencies or from inactive sites?
A. the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) aka Superfund
B. the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
C. the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy of 1980
D. the Basel Convention
13. What is an example of an ignitable waste?
A. used solvents
B. battery acid
C. explosives
D. lead paint
14. What is an example of a corrosive waste?
A. battery acid
B. used solvents
C. explosives
D. lead paint
15. What is an example of a reactive waste?
A. explosives
B. used solvents
C. battery acid
D. lead paint
Correct Answer - A
Waste – High School
16. What is an example of a toxic waste?
A. lead paint
B. used solvents
C. battery acid
D. explosives
17. What is one class of waste that is specifically exempted from federal hazardous waste regulations?
A. mining waste
B. disposable diapers
C. fireworks
D. industrial waste
18. What is one way the toxicity of hazardous materials is determined?
A. by comparison with data for similar materials
B. by testing on prisoners
C. from data on the effects of accidental releases
D. by testing on volunteers
19. What is one way the toxicity of hazardous materials is determined
A. by testing on cells, tissues or rats
B. by montoring the health of people that work with them
C. by testing on insects
D. by testing on volunteers
20. Which hazardous materials can be made safer by mixing with materials that neutralize pH?
A. corrosive waste
B. radioactive waste
C. reactive waste
D. toxic waste
Correct Answer - A
Waste – High School
21. Which hazardous materials can be made safer by mixing with excess inert solids?
A. reactive waste
B. corrosive waste
C. radioactive waste
D. toxic waste
22. Which U.S. document lists the kind and amount of chemicals released into the air, water and on land each year?
A. the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI)
B. the Red List
C. the Basel Convention
D. the Red Book
23. What is one of the criteria that means a facility may have to report on chemicals it releases?
A. they are in a specific industy
B. they are located in a large urban area
C. they are located next to a national park
D. they are located next to a school
24. Which international agency sets standards for nuclear safety and helps countries achieve them?
A. the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
B. the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
C. the Department of Energy (DoE)
D. the State Department
25. Which federal agency sets standards to protect the public from radiation?
A. the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
B. the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
C. the Department of Energy (DoE)
D. the State Department
Correct Answer - A
Waste – High School
26. What is radioactivity?
A. when atoms of certain elements emit alpha or beta particles, and gamma rays
B. when electromagnetic radiation in the visible spectrum triggers a reaction in a pigment molecule
C. when a molecule, atom, or ion gains electrons
D. when chemical bonds between atoms in a molecule are broken by water
27. Which kind of radiation is most harmful to living tissue?
A. ionizing radiation
B. ultraviolet radiation
C. infrared radiation
D. microwaves
28. What makes nuclear waste hazardous to living things?
A. it produces lots of ionizing radiation
B. it produces toxic chemicals
C. it can cause tissue to dissolve
D. it irritates the bronchial passages
29. What is an example of high-level radioactive waste?
A. waste from making nuclear bombs
B. medical isotopes used for imaging
C. lithium batteries
D. fluorescent paint
30. What is the main source of high-level radioactive waste in the U.S.?
A. bomb manufacture
B. nuclear power plants
C. medical isotopes
D. consumer products
Correct Answer - A
Waste – High School
31. Which of these requires states that produce low-level radioactive materials to have a place to store the waste?
A. the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy of 1980
B. the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 and its amendements
C. the Basel Convention
D. the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) aka Superfund
32. Which of these requires that the Department of Energy consider Yucca Mountain NV as the primary site for geologic
storage of nuclear waste from power plants?
A. the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 and its amendements
B. the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy of 1980
C. the Basel Convention
D. the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) aka Superfund
33. What is low-level radioactive waste?
A. waste whose ionizing radiation is close to background levels of radiation
B. waste from spent nuclear reactors
C. battery acid
D. discarded tanning beds
34. What is an example of low-level radioactive waste?
A. medical isotopes used for imaging
B. spent nuclear fuel from power plants
C. fluorescent paint
D. waste from making nuclear bombs
35. What is the time it takes for half the atoms of a quantity of a radioactive element to decay or change to atoms of a
different element called?
A. its half life
B. its lethal dose
C. its recovery time
D. its transformation rate
36. Where is spent nuclear fuel waste from nuclear power plants currently stored?
Correct Answer - A
Waste – High School
A. in sealed casks at the power plants where it is produced
B. at Yucca Mountain in Nevada
C. at five long-term waste disposal sites throughout the U.S.
D. in foreign countries
37. Which hazardous materials can be made safer by waiting until most of it decays into something else?
A. radioactive elements
B. corrosive waste
C. reactive waste
D. toxic waste
Correct Answer - A