Vitrification could improve safety of ILW treatment
Studies have found that vitrifying intermediate-level nuclear waste (ILW) is a viable alternative to encapsulating waste in specially formulated cement.
ILW makes up more than three quarters of the volume of material destined for geological disposal in the UK, according to a report entitled Radioactive Waste in the UK: The 2010 Estimate of Radioactive Waste for Geological Disposal.
The UK’s preferred method is to encapsulate ILW using a method in which the waste is mixed with cement and sealed in steel drums in preparation for disposal deep underground.
Two studies, published in the latest issues of the Journal of Nuclear Materials and European Journal of Glass Science and Technology A show that vitrifying this kind of waste could be a better method for its long-term storage, transport and eventual disposal.
High-level waste (HLW) is already processed using this technology, which reduces the reactivity and the volume of the waste produced. Until now, this method has not been considered suitable for ILW because the technology was not developed to handle large quantities of waste composed from a variety of different materials.
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Comment: Engineers must adapt to AI or fall behind
A fascinating piece and nice to see a broad discussion beyond GenAI and the hype bandwagon. AI (all flavours) like many things invented or used by...