PNNL

When Sarah Saslow, a chemist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, first picked up a sample of AF-1000, she was surprised by how light it was. After learning the lightweight epoxy-based material was also strong, she wondered whether it could efficiently encapsulate radioactive contaminants.

That curiosity led to a multiyear collaboration between PNNL and Advanced American Technologies (AAT), a veteran-owned company that has used AF-1000 in applications ranging from bullet-resistant doors to environmental remediation.

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management is exploring alternatives to cement for deactivation and decommissioning (D&D) of facilities no longer needed at legacy sites. A challenge in D&D is managing building surfaces that became contaminated with radioactive or chemical materials during mission operations.

Putting AF-1000 to the test

Saslow and Earth scientist Alex Kugler set out in 2023 to determine whether AF-1000 could help meet that need to stabilize contamination on facility surfaces, especially leading up to and during the demolition process. In 2025, they brought on postmaster’s research associate Molly Cragin.

“My team set out to address the question of how AF-1000 interacts with different material surfaces chemically and physically,” Saslow said. “If you have a contaminant on the surface, does AF-1000 change it in any way? Is it just physical encapsulation, or is there some chemical effect? That grew into additional questions about performance as a contaminant fixative and durability.”

AAT has already shown through a product demonstration at DOE’s Y-12 site that AF-1000 can be successfully sprayed onto contaminated surfaces, where it cures within minutes and forms a durable coating that immobilizes contaminants like mercury, a primary contaminant of concern at the Y-12 site.

The team originally worked with non-radiological surrogate contaminants, allowing testing to begin immediately. An early discovery was that AF-1000 physically encapsulates contaminants in place. More recent experiments with uranium compounds confirmed this finding and gave the team a green light to continue using the safer, non-radiological contaminants to perform AF-1000 durability tests and leach tests.

“This year, we actually used various uranium compounds, and it showed the same results as with all of the non-radiological components,” said Kugler. “When AF-1000 locks up these contaminants, they are pretty highly locked in place.”

The team also evaluated how well AF-1000 resists degradation under real-world stresses, including abrasion, adhesion, water exposure, gamma radiation, and corrosive chemicals, when the amount of contamination present on common building material surfaces increases. Most of the building materials were purchased from the local hardware store, with the research conducted in PNNL’s specialized facilities.

For Cragin, who conducted much of the hands-on testing, some of the most notable findings came when the material exceeded expectations.

“We had a lot of challenges with the testing that were associated with good performance of the AF-1000,” Cragin said. “When we tried to pull the AF-1000 off the concrete to find the adhesion strength, it grabbed a chunk of the concrete itself, which meant the concrete failed before the coating.”

In steel adhesion testing, the coating’s strength exceeded the limits of the testing setup. AF-1000 demonstrated adhesion strengths of roughly 3,500 pounds per square inch or greater, the limit of the test apparatus.

“For perspective, an area of three square inches could technically hold a full-size elephant,” said Cragin.

PNNL’s work led to some unconventional laboratory supply purchases. Because AF-1000 sticks to most surfaces, the team had to think outside the box when preparing molded AF-1000 samples for different testing approaches. They used silicone cake pans, jewelry molds, and even dog-treat molds to create test samples.

“I’ve learned a lot from this experience by watching both Sarah and Alex,” said Cragin, who recently completed her master’s degree at the University of Arizona. “They did a great job of guiding me and making sure I had the tools and resources I needed, while also giving me the space to challenge myself to figure things out and learn.”

Building a framework for future use

While no single fixative will be suitable for every cleanup challenge, the team hopes to provide D&D site managers with consistent performance data to support fixative technology selection decisions.

The partnership between PNNL and AAT also highlights the value of collaboration between national laboratories and industry. 

“One of the things we’ve valued most about our collaboration with PNNL is their commitment to understanding the science behind how fixative technologies perform,” said Colonel (Ret.) Robert Grigsby, President of Advanced American Technologies. “Their independent research provides DOE with the technical foundation needed to make informed decisions about contamination stabilization.”

Beyond evaluating AF-1000, the PNNL team is helping to identify ASTM International standards for assessing and comparing fixative technologies more broadly for DOE D&D applications. By generating consistent, side-by-side performance data, Saslow hopes sites will be better able to evaluate, compare, and adopt fixative technologies, reducing the current siloed approach and making fixatives a more accessible, widely considered tool for advancing D&D missions across DOE facilities. 

The goal is to provide decision-makers with data to make tailored fixative decisions that effectively stabilize contaminants, reduce exposure risk during demolition, and improve the durability performance for environmental protection.

“While this work directly supports deactivation and decommissioning, the knowledge being generated extends well beyond a single application, helping decision-makers better understand how these technologies perform wherever durable contaminant immobilization is required,” said Grigsby. “That’s the strength of partnerships like this—industry brings innovative materials and practical field experience, while the national laboratories provide the scientific rigor that helps advance DOE’s environmental management mission.”

This is a vision shared between the PNNL fixative team and their collaborators at Savannah River National Laboratory—Evan Koelker and Austin Coleman—and Florida International University’s Mellissa Komninakis, Alex Perez, and Joseph Sinicrope. This year their collaboration used AF-1000 and two other fixatives (FireDam 200 by 3M and Polymeric Barrier System by BHI Energy) to evaluate whether ASTM standards for abrasion, adhesion, impact, gamma radiation, and fire resistance would allow DOE to compare performance metrics for a variety of different fixative technology types.

For Saslow, the larger goal is advancing DOE’s cleanup mission.

“Making it easier for the DOE to identify potential technology solutions to their D&D challenges is really important to all of us,” she said.