On the looming 10th anniversary of the Fukushima disaster at the Daiichi Power Station in Japan, PNNL looks back at the science and solidarity it has shared with Fukushima and its nuclear cleanup effort.
Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are closer to understanding how iron may pave the way for sequestration of technetium-99 contaminants in the subsurface.
At PNNL, subsurface science inhabits two separate but interlocking worlds. One looks at basic science, the other at applied science and engineering. Both are funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
With the help of a diagnostic tool called the Salish Sea Model, researchers found that toxic contaminant hotspots in the Puget Sound are tied to localized lack of water circulation and cumulative effects from multiple sources.
"It's sort of like using infrared goggles to see heat signatures in the dark, except this is underground." PNNL and CHPRC implemented a state-of-the-art approach to monitor the process of remediating residual uranium at Hanford's 300 Area.
Peering through the thick, green glass of a decades-old "hot cell," an expert technician manipulates robotic arms to study highly radioactive waste from Hanford, in support of ongoing cleanup.
For the first time, researchers have created a gram of yellowcake — a powdered form of uranium used to produce fuel for nuclear power production — using modified acrylic fibers to extract it from seawater.
