Physicists propose new plasma-based method to treat radioactive waste
Tuesday, December 1, 2015 - 16:40
in Physics & Chemistry
Physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) are proposing a new way to process nuclear waste that uses a plasma-based centrifuge. Known as plasma mass filtering, the new mass separation techniques would supplement chemical techniques. It is hoped that this combined approach would reduce both the cost of nuclear waste disposal and the amount of byproducts produced during the process. This work was supported by PPPL's Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program.