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'Garbage disposal'
for nuclear waste
Researchers are closer to knowing how to prepare
millions of gallons of highly radioactive
nuclear waste for permanent storage, the result of the first study to describe
the chemistry of waste formed by aluminum and alkaline, or
caustic sodium compounds, mixing with high-level radioactive
material.
According to research team member and Purdue
agronomy professor Cliff Johnston, this knowledge will be
applied to the permanent disposal of the 53 million gallons
of radioactive material held in 177 giant underground tanks
at the Department of Energy's Hanford Nuclear Reservation
in Richland, Wash. Congress has ordered removal of the waste
to permanent storage.
The report is published in the June issue of Environmental
Science and Technology. |
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