Glass for generations
Josh Howgego finds out how converting radioactive waste into novel glass materials could be a safe, secure way to deal with the legacy of nuclear power stations
There aren't many people suffering from radiation damage in the UK, so at first sight it might seem like there's not much research left to do when it comes to nuclear waste and no need to invent new ways of dealing with it.
However, that impression is quite wrong, according to Neil Hyatt, a professor of nuclear materials chemistry at the
University of Sheffield, UK. Much of the UK's high level nuclear waste is stored at Sellafield, Cumbria, in a high-security facility. But it's only there temporarily. Dealing with nuclear waste is difficult, so it is often put into interim storage until industries, government and the local residents can agree on where it should go. Eventually the waste will be buried underground.
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