AU researchers developing new technologies to store, recycle nuclear waste

Auburn University professors are researching new ways to store and recycle nuclear waste as the federal government seeks to boost nuclear power production.

The U.S. Department of Energy is funding AU’s Center for Actinide Science to find chemical compounds that would combine with radioactive elements, allowing them to be safely stored without risk of radiation leakage. The nuclear material would be recycled for future use in energy production.

“Twenty percent of the electricity generated in the United States is from nuclear reactors,“ said Tom Albrecht-Schmitt, center director. “The U.S. currently uses a one-time process and then must store the highly radioactive waste. Many other countries recycle the fuel rod components.“

Auburn is one of five universities in the country with the capability and expertise to conduct research into nuclear waste storage for recycling, said Albrecht-Schmitt, who added that the Department of Energy is considering building a nuclear fuel recycling facility, perhaps at Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina.

The Department of Energy will evaluate and possibly use technology developed from the universities’ actinide science research, which is the study of chemically similar radioactive elements.