30. Developing technology for radioactive waste immobilisation

This paper describes research work undertaken at The Radiation Centre of The University of Birmingham, on new techniques for the immobilisation of radioactive wastes to permit safe management and disposal. This work is concerned primarily with fission products and their fixation in new composites which consist of inorganic and organic polymers. The factors which affect the leaching rate of particular cations have been examined and the mechanism of retention investigated. The studies reported are entirely independent of Government and industry.

The need for immobilisation

1. The need to immobilise radionuclides from nuclear fuel cycle wastes in order to prevent their discharge into the environment has long been recognised. Much attention has been fo-cussed on the management of high level wastes (HLW) resulting from the reprocessing of spent fuel. Classification (ref. 1,2) and ceramic techniques (ref. 3,4) are at the process development stage.