Tag: nuclear containment

New glass-ceramic composite shows promise for safer storage of nuclear waste

New glass-ceramic composite shows promise for safer storage of nuclear waste

USask researchers find composite resists corrosion as well as current industry standard and holds more waste

“Simply put, we want to find the best candidate for containing nuclear waste,” explains Mehrnaz Mikhchian, University of Saskatchewan PhD student who has published findings following a year-long study.

Nuclear power holds a lot of potential as a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels; however, two main challenges have been deterrents to widespread adoption – preventing leaching into the environment and safely disposing of large volumes of waste.

USask scientists have made progress in both areas. Using the Canadian Light Source at the University of Saskatchewan, Mikhchian and Professor of Chemistry, Andrew Grosvenor, studied the corrosion resistance and capacity of a new, glass-ceramic composite material with positive results.

The effect of corrosion over a long period of time was unknown. Until now.

“It’s important to ensure the waste product does not leach into the environment,” explained Mikhchian. The team studied the extent to which the material corroded after being exposed to water for a full year and reported that it performed well. Using the VLS-PGM beamline at CLS along with a beamline at the Advanced Photon Source, they examined results from several different corrosion studies and found the composite material resisted corrosion as well as glass, which is the material most commonly used.

Read more and watch CLS’s video on this research here

Safely Probing Chernobyl Fuel Simulants with X-rays

Safely Probing Chernobyl Fuel Simulants with X-rays

Researchers used ultrabright x-rays at Brookhaven Lab’s NSLS-II to study the chemical makeup of simulated nuclear materials from Chernobyl, informing better containment strategies

Beamline scientist Sarah Nicholas is pictured at the X-ray Fluorescence Microprobe (XFM) beamline at NSLS-II, where researchers used ultrabright x-rays to visualize the chemical makeup of simulated nuclear materials from Chernobyl.

On this day 35 years ago, an accident at the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant created one of the worst nuclear disasters in history. As the reactor core melted, it generated a large amount of highly radioactive materials. Today, scientists continue to research those materials to determine the best methods of containment and cleanup.

In a recent study published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A, scientists at the University of Sheffield characterized the chemical makeup of a specific nuclear material found at Chernobyl, called lava-like fuel-containing materials (LFCMs). These materials, which are comprised of nuclear fuel and melted reactor components like stainless steel and concrete, behave like natural lava, solidifying to form a complex, highly radioactive glass-ceramic. While research has been conducted on LFCMs before, the level of detail those analyses could provide was significantly limited due to the challenges of handling these radioactive materials.

Read more on the BNL website

Image: Beamline scientist Sarah Nicholas is pictured at the X-ray Fluorescence Microprobe (XFM) beamline at NSLS-II, where researchers used ultrabright x-rays to visualize the chemical makeup of simulated nuclear materials from Chernobyl.

Credit: BNL