More than a third of the nation’s commercial nuclear power reactorsoperate here in the Great Lakes Region (6 in NY, 9 in PA, 2 in OH, 4 inMI, 11 in IL, 3 in WI, 3 in MN). The high-level radioactive waste theseplants produce is currently being held on-site at each facility, whileefforts to find safe long-term storage continue. The Great Lakes RadioConsortium’s Mark Brush reports on new research that points toward apotential storage solution:
Transcript
More than a third of the nation’s commercial nuclear power reactors
operate here in the Great Lakes Region (6 in NY, 9 in PA, 2 in OH, 4 in
MI, 11 in IL, 3 in WI, 3 in MN). The high-level radioactive waste these
plants produce is currently being held on-site at each facility, while
efforts to find safe long term storage continue. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Mark Brush reports on new research that points toward a
potential storage solution.
Radioactive waste is highly active. Particles continue to bombard the
container it’s held in until the radiation essentially changes the
physical structure of the container. That then causes the container to
distort, decay or simply crack.
And that’s a problem for dangerous waste that has a half-life of more
than a thousand years.
However, scientists recently discovered a new ceramic material that
appears to stand up to radioactive waste’s unruly behavior. Lisa
Minervilli is with the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
“We found that these materials have very high radiation tolerance… By
immobilizing the radioactive species in these crystal structures you
would have possibly a longer term, more stable, more durable waste
form.”
Researchers say the material’s ability to hold up to radiation is
proven. What’s left to test is how the material will hold up to the
natural elements and time. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m
Mark Brush.