Analytical chemist shares passion for STEM, innovation and nuclear fuel

Spent nuclear fuel is being recycled to make new fuel through rapid separation and tight control of uranium and plutonium.

A PNNL article on developments in ceramics and glass for sustainable energy also highlights research staff—and earns a journal cover.

Three unused, 48,000-pound stainless steel canisters arrived at PNNL, bringing the chance to deepen research in spent nuclear fuel storage and transportation.

A code comparison study demonstrates a leap in the accuracy and reliability of modeling gas hydrate for the discovery and production of natural gas.

A research team from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory developed an apparatus that evaluates the performance of high-temperature fluids in hydraulic fracturing for enhanced geothermal systems.

PNNL Lab fellow and Earth scientist Nik Qafoku earns highest recognition from the Soil Science Society of America.

Five papers co-written by 23 PNNL researchers were named Superior Paper Award Winners by the Waste Management Symposia.

An international team used PNNL microscopy to answer questions about how uranium dioxide—used in nuclear power plants—might behave in long-term storage.

A new radiation-resistant material for the efficient capture of noble gases xenon and krypton makes it safer and cheaper to recycle spent nuclear fuel.

A chemistry paper on the used nuclear fuel recycling process, led by PNNL lab fellow Gregg Lumetta, ranked 18th in Scientific Reports for downloads in 2019

Deepika Malhotra, an organic chemist at PNNL, will lend her expertise to help shape the content and quality of Pollutants a new, interdisciplinary, open access, journal focusing on a range of environmental science research.

Nuclear Process Science Initiative researchers at PNNL gain insights into the formation and rupture of high-pressure gas bubbles in nuclear fuel.

Researchers have identified two processes responsible for fracturing rock at lower pressures for geothermal energy production using PNNL’s fracturing fluid, StimuFrac™.

PNNL’s Nuclear Process Science Initiative (NPSI) has developed a book that examines processes used to separate nuclear materials.

PNNL and Argonne researchers developed and tested a chemical process that successfully captures radioactive byproducts from used nuclear fuel so they could be sent to advanced reactors for destruction while also producing electrical power.

The Soil Science Society of America presents Nik Qafoku with the 2019 Jackson Award for contributions in soil chemistry and mineralogy—ranging from agricultural fertilizer efficiency in Albania to soil contaminant transport at Hanford.

It’s hot in there! PNNL researchers take a close, but nonradioactive, look at metal particle formation in a nuclear fuel surrogate material. What they found will help fill knowledge gaps and could lead to better nuclear fuel designs.

Josef "Pepa" Matyas, a materials scientist in PNNL’s Nuclear Sciences Division, has been elected a fellow of the American Ceramic Society (ACerS). He will be recognized at the ACerS annual meeting on September 30, 2019, in Portland, Ore.