News from the radiochemical facility

April 8, 2009

Polymer encapsulation
The team at Harwell’s former radiochemical laboratory have adapted polymeric materials for conditioning waste. Following successful inactive trials, active trial runs of a Vinyl Ester Styrene (VES) matrix to condition radium waste cans have begun. 

The VES polymer, as the earlier trials demonstrated, has the ability to encapsulate all types of waste without any adverse chemical reactions. In-cell trials begun recently have started to produce polymer-conditioned packages of highly active radium waste and have significantly reduced their radon emanation.

Radium cans
Work to size reduce, package and condition radium-contaminated wastes for long term storage continues, using both grout and polymer. During the past year, 48 waste containers, each 55 litres, comprising radium wastes have been conditioned, tested and prepared ready for despatch to storage. The wastes were generated by facility operations dating back to the early 1990s.

“Over the next three years,” explained Alec Inns, facility manager at the radiochemistry facility, “the operations team expect to process several tens of individual cans of radium-contaminated wastes currently in storage, in order to condition the waste cans for ultimate disposal and minimise radon emanation.”

For more information please contact: Angela Vincent, RSRL (Harwell) Communications Manager