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Re: What Should We Do With Plutonium Once Nuclear Weapons Are Dismantled?
why are we so anxious to dispose of the plutonium that was so expensive to
make in the first place? why can't we do some plutonium chemistry with it?
Why can't we make MOX fuel?
Ruth Weiner
ruth_weiner@msn.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Sandy Perle <sandyfl@earthlink.net>
To: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
Date: Thursday, August 10, 2000 11:06 AM
Subject: What Should We Do With Plutonium Once Nuclear Weapons Are
Dismantled?
>What Should We Do With Plutonium Once Nuclear Weapons Are Dismantled?
>International Research Team May Have a 30-Million-Year Answer
>
>ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 9, 2000--An international
>research team led by the University of Michigan (UM) has discovered a
>radiation-resistant material suitable for the immobilization and safe
>disposal of plutonium. This highly durable material--a zirconate
>pyrochlore--is calculated to resist radiation damage for up to 30
>million years.
>
>Gadolinium zirconate, the team discovered, is superior to the
>titanate-based ceramic that is currently proposed for plutonium
>immobilization in the United States. The research team performed a
>systematic study of the radiation resistance of the gadolinium
>titanate and zirconate compositions. Results indicate that the
>titanate will be completely damaged by the radiation in less than
>1,000 years. The zirconate will not sustain damage for periods up to
>30 million years. Considering that plutonium is an environmental
>contaminant with a radioactive half-life of 24,500 years, the multi-
>million-year calculation of the zirconate's durability makes it a
>leading candidate for the immobilization of plutonium.
>
>"This is a significant scientific discovery with major environmental
>impact for future generations," said Dr. Yok Chen, Program Manager in
>the Office of Basic Energy Sciences at the U.S. Department of Energy,
>which funded this research at the University of Michigan and Pacific
>Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).
>
>Rodney Ewing, Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological
>Sciences at the University of Michigan College of Engineering, and
>William Weber, a senior staff scientist at PNNL, led the team of
>researchers that included scientists at the Australian Nuclear
>Science and Technology Organization and the Indira Gandhi Centre for
>Atomic Research in India.
>
>The team's findings were first published in the December 1999 Journal
>of Materials Research (JMR). This past week, another international
>team of researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory, working
>independently from the UM team, announced similar results with an
>erbium zirconate ceramic.
>
>The safe disposal of plutonium is a relatively new environmental
>problem. Both the United States and the former Soviet Union have
>agreed to dismantle nuclear weapons, resulting in 100 metric tons of
>plutonium, approximately 50 from each side. This plutonium is only a
>small part of a growing global inventory of plutonium that is already
>greater than 1,300 metric tons.
>
>"What to do with this plutonium is a science and policy issue of
>great national and international importance," said Ewing. "Two
>independent research teams have shown that zironate-based materials
>offer an excellent solution to the serious problem of this ever-
>increasing amount of plutonium. Taken together, these startling
>results confirm that there are radiation-resistant and chemically
>durable materials that can safely contain plutonium."
>
>This new material is capable of incorporating a large variety of
>chemical elements in its structure, including plutonium. The
>zirconate withstands the radiation that results from the decay of
>plutonium. The ability to sustain high levels of damage without a
>disruption of the atomic structure accounts for the radiation
>stability of this material.
>
>"The currently considered titanate became completely disordered at
>relatively low exposures to radiation," said Shixin Wang, a UM
>postdoctoral fellow and lead author on the JMR article. Wang recently
>presented these findings at the Plutonium Futures 2000 conference on
>July 10 in Sante Fe, NM.
>
>"The disordered titanate material leads to an increase in the loss of
>plutonium when the material is in contact with water," added Weber at
>PNNL.
>
>The team will continue to investigate the chemical durability of
>gadolinium zirconate by conducting leaching tests. The radiation
>behavior of the zirconates with high concentrations of impurities
>will be studied to ensure a complete knowledge of the long-term
>performance of this material.
>
>Professor Ewing can be reached at (734) 647-8529 or
>rodewing@umich.edu to discuss this new material for plutonium
>immobilization. William J. Weber, at PNNL, can be reached for comment
>at (509) 375-2299 or Bill.Weber@pnl.gov.
>
>CONTACT:
>
>University of Michigan - College of Engineering
>
>Janet C. Harvey-Clark, 734/647-7087
>
>janethc@engin.umich.edu
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Sandy Perle Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100
>Director, Technical Extension 2306
>ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division Fax:(714) 668-3149
>ICN Biomedicals, Inc. E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
>ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com
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>
>Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205
>ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com
>
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