Q.i) What is radioactive waste? Mention two sources that generate radioactive waste.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Radioactive waste = waste emitting ionising radiation (from nuclear plants, nuclear medicine, etc.). No two species share an identical niche because full overlap leads to competitive exclusion. A pyramid of energy shows energy per trophic level per unit time and is always upright.
i) Radioactive (nuclear) waste: waste material that contains radioactive substances (radionuclides) which continuously emit harmful ionising radiation (alpha, beta, gamma) dangerous to living organisms even at low doses. Two sources: (a) nuclear power plants / nuclear reactors (spent fuel), and (b) nuclear medicine, radiotherapy and research laboratories (also uranium mining and nuclear weapon testing).
ii) 'No two species can have exactly the same niche' — justification: A niche is the full functional role of a species (its food, habitat, resources and interactions). If two species occupied exactly the same niche, they would compete for identical resources completely. By the competitive exclusion principle (Gause's principle), such complete competition cannot continue indefinitely — the more efficient species out-competes and eliminates the other, or the weaker species is forced to shift its niche. Hence in nature no two species permanently occupy an identical niche.
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