Engineering faculty Sundaram co-inventor of process that immobilizes nuclear waste
S.K. Sundaram, Inamori Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Alfred University, is co-inventor of a novel process by which nuclear waste products can be immobilized in ceramic-metal waste form.
Sundaram was among a Rutgers School of Engineering-led collaboration of researchers from Alfred University, Washington State University, University of South Carolina, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Savannah River National Laboratory, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory who worked on the project.
The goal of the research was to find a way to immobilize high-level waste products created in the production of nuclear power into a single waste stream. In addition to waste immobilization, the new technology can be used for nuclear waste management and recovery of isotopes used in medical applications.
Novel cermet composite for nuclear waste immobilization
The research combined hot uniaxial press and spark plasma sintering and stainless steel-316 (SS316) with various ceramic phases, yielding a composite material with high relative densities and tunable porosity that can be used for nuclear waste management spanning multiple advanced reactor fuel cycles with an approximate 50 percent reduction in time and costs.