UK TO LAUNCH NUCLEAR WASTE TREATMENT RESEARCH EFFORT

The U.K.’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is launching next month a four-year research effort on waste treatment with Sellafield Limited, the National Nuclear Laboratory, numerous U.K. universities and other partners, the NDA announced yesterday. The program is expected to cost £8 million to £9 million ($13.2 million to $14.8 million) and will be partially funded by a £4.9 million grant from the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council, as well as contributions from the Lab, NDA, Sellafield Ltd., and a consortium of 10 universities led by the University of Leeds. 

 

The program is called “DISTINCTIVE,” based on Decommissioning, Immobilisation and Storage Solutions for Nuclear Waste Inventories, and will have four themes: spent fuel, plutonium oxide and fuel residues, legacy ponds and silos wastes, and infrastructure, characterization, restoration and preservation. Melanie Brownridge, the NDA’s head of research and development, said in a statement, “Our industry benefits hugely when high-level academic research is focused at some of the challenges we face in decommissioning our nuclear legacy. We welcome this collaboration and look forward to seeing the progress that these important projects will deliver.”