Opalinus Clay as a potential host rock for nuclear waste repositories
Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU, Germany) have studied natural claystone in the laboratory for more than four years in order to determine how the radioactive elements plutonium and neptunium react with this rock. The experiments have been performed as part of a Germany-wide project sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) to find a suitable geological repository for radioactive waste. Geological configurations that could play a role for the permanent disposal of nuclear waste include not only salt and granite formations, but also claystone. The results obtained by the team of nuclear chemists under the supervision of Professor Tobias Reich confirm that natural clay has certain useful properties that counteract the migration of radioactive materials. Professor Reich, director of the Institute of Nuclear Chemistry at Mainz University, summarizes the results obtained so far as follows: "It does seem that clay could be suitable as host...