nuclear waste Archives – The Green Optimistic

Using Light To Clean Nuclear Waste

Arsenij Percov — Tue, 17 Jul 2018 06:01:25 +0000

A Florida State University research team found a unique way to separate metal ions. This process could help to purify water or even recycle nuclear waste. They decided to use a simple, widely available energy source – Light. Postdoctoral researcher Sahan Salpage and Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Kenneth Hanson described their strategy in […]

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Plug-and-play Nuclear Thermal Battery to Power Remote Areas

Mila Luleva — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 09:28:29 +0000

Boston based start-up has developed a small scale nuclear reactor, or a nuclear thermal battery as they call it, which has the potential to produce enough electricity to power 2,000 homes. It can function on multiple fuel sources, and its waste can be reused. Nuclear power plants did not live up to everyone’s expectations and deliver […]

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Low-level Nuclear Waste Disposal Seems Easy Money-Making Business

Mila Luleva — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 15:27:39 +0000

Have you ever wondered what companies should do in order to safely dispose of nuclear waste? Considering the current charging rate per cubic foot, it is bound to be quite a lot, but actually, according an article at the The New York Times entitled “America’s most valuable hole in the ground“, the figures are completely […]

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Fast and Super-Effective Technique to Remove Nuclear Waste From Water

Mila Luleva — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 20:16:17 +0000

New technology, developed by scientists at CSIRO, Australia, promise an effective way of removing nuclear waste from water, bringing it to rainwater quality. By using aluminium and magnesium-rich minerals, the researchers claim to be able to clean-up all contaminants at once, without having to implement numerous and highly expensive techniques. Handling the toxic waste from […]

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Clay Could Improve Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Sites’ Safety

Benji Jerew — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 19:25:38 +0000

One might point to nuclear power as a zero-emissions alternative to fossil-fuel-based power generation, but it does have a couple of very special problems, such as nuclear waste disposal and the ever-present danger of nuclear accidents. We may point to reducing carbon dioxide as the means to curb climate change, which would affect everyone on […]

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Nuclear Waste Recycled by New Method Developed at OSU

Mila Luleva — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 15:32:05 +0000

New method to reduce cost of nuclear waste disposal while irradiating medical supplies and food, was developed by a researcher at Oregon State University. Russell Goff, a masters student in the OSU Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics, estimated that the new technique could produce an annual revenue of as much as $10 million […]

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Fast-Neutron Reactors May be Key to Quickly Ridding the World of Nuclear Waste

Leigh Hutchens — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 04:25:26 +0000

China, India, and Russia are promoting the use of fast reactors in order to break down stores of nuclear waste. Last week at a global conference sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), India and Russia discussed large demonstration plants they will operate in 2014 and the plan for future deployments. China is currently […]

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Nuclear Waste from Bomb Production Contaminating Groundwater in Hanford, WA

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 19:18:20 +0000

Tanks containing nuclear waste resulted from the production of U.S. nuclear bombs are now a potential hazard for the environment, despite the DoE saying they’re secure. 177 ageing containers at the Hanford Site in Washington store two thirds of the country’s nuclear waste – 200 million liters of radioactive sludge. Our of the 177, 67 […]

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Nuclear Waste Disposal: An Issue That Won’t Heal by Itself

Leigh Hutchens — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 19:27:44 +0000

Shockingly, of the 437 nuclear power reactors on the globe in 31 countries, none possess high-level nuclear waste disposal facilities. That’s because none exist. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Nuclear waste is dangerous for up to one million years, and countries across the world are producing more nuclear waste, so why is there no way to dispose […]

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Storing Nuclear Waste Storage a Big Problem for South Korea

Leigh Hutchens — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 06:11:01 +0000

South Korea’s 23 nuclear reactors supply one third of the country’s power. By 2024, South Korea plans to add 11 more nuclear reactors, expanding nuclear power by 50%. But while the country has big plans for nuclear expansion, it’s also grappling with how to handle and store nuclear waste. According to government figures, South Korea […]

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Researchers Urging Decision Makers for Agreement on Plutonium Waste Disposal

Ovidiu Sandru — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:16:28 +0000

A new research on the actions to be done about nuclear waste has been recently published in the science journal Nature. Their conclusions have been that the wastes should be disposed of safely and securely, so that they are unreachable by third parties who could build nuclear weapons. Worldwide, about 500 metric tons of plutonium […]

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New Nuclear Waste Recycling Technology Discovered by Notre Dame Researchers

Mike Sandru — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 21:26:26 +0000

Maybe the folks at Fukushima should hear about this, or more precisely those handling the recovery process, which is far from over: as the latest discovery in the field, the Notre Dame Thorium Borate-1 (NDTB-1) is apparently just what you need to clean up a radioactive mess. Although the current trend is all for clean […]

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New Butterfly-Shaped Uranium Molecule Helps Cleaning Nuclear Waste

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 17:14:35 +0000

A new uranium molecule developed by scientists from the University of Edinburgh can literally clean the waste that nuclear power plants leave behind. The researchers found out that the molecule may be involved in forming clusters of radioactive material in waste that are difficult to separate during the cleanup process. The new discovery could lead […]

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Geobacter Bacteria Cleaning up Nuclear Waste and Generating Electricity

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:45:54 +0000

Some microbes may be able to clean up nuclear waste and at the same time generate electricity. Michigan State University (MSU) researchers have recently discovered how a bacterium called Geobacter can do all that. “Geobacter bacteria are tiny micro-organisms that can play a major role in cleaning up polluted sites around the world,” said Gemma […]

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$1.2 Million Grant To Clemson University For Studying How To Safely Deploy Plutonium Waste

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 19:43:14 +0000

Because plutonium, a radioactive byproduct of spent nuclear fuel, can move pretty fast through the soil, the U.S. Department of Energy granted $1.2 million to Clemson University scientists to study how the nuclear substance interacts with soil and how damages to the environment could be minimized.

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Fusion-Fission Hybrid Reactor: Getting Rid of 99% Nuclear Waste Cleanly

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:44:08 +0000

The main problem with nuclear power is that it leaves radioactive residues behind; otherwise, it would be the almost perfect solution for our energetic and climate crises. The almost-perfect solution comes from the physicists at the University of Texas at Austin, who created a way to "use fusion to relatively inexpensively destroy the waste from nuclear fission".

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