Both the volume and the level of radioactivity have to be considered – a large volume of waste with a low-level of radioactivity presents less danger than a smaller amount of waste with a high-level of radioactivity. For example, spent fuel (elements that have been removed from a reactor after use) makes up less than 1% of the volume of radioactive waste, but contains almost 95% of the total radioactivity.

Belarus is located in Eastern Europe, east of Poland, comprising of 207,600 sq km. It has a population of 10,300,483 (2005). Major environmental concerns are: soil pollution from pesticide use; southern part of the country contaminated with fallout from 1986 nuclear reactor accident at Chernobyl in northern Ukraine.