Nuclear energy is clean, powerful, affordable, and zero-emission. A new study uses the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan to help ensure that waste from nuclear power plants remains safe and secure for thousands of years to come.
The project, led by Dan Kaplan and Dien Li, researchers at the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina, looks at storing iodine, which is generated during uranium use, including in nuclear power generation.
Among the challenges of iodine management is its slow rate of decay—it has a half-life of 16 million years. Iodine is volatile and highly mobile in the environment, making containment critically important in nuclear waste management.
Currently, nuclear waste disposal sites use Ag-zeolite to sequester iodine from nuclear waste streams, which is then encased in concrete to prevent leaching.
>Read more on the Canadian Light Source website
Image: Samples of different formulations of cement that were tested for their ability to immobilize radioiodine.