Coating Isolates Nuclear Waste
nuclear waste and prevent radioactive contaminants from dusting or seeping into the environment.
The coating known as EKOR, which is now being tested at the damaged Chernobyl nuclear reactor, could make it easier to manage some of the world's most dangerous nuclear waste, according to its developers.
In March, the EKOR coating was applied in a successful demonstration that contained radiation from the destroyed nuclear reactor at Chernobyl near Kiev, Ukraine. Robots applied the polymer as a cover for the largest fuel-containing mass under the failed Reactor 4 at Chernobyl, the most radioactive spot on the planet.
EKOR was developed by Russian scientists at the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow. Some of these scientists went to Chernobyl shortly after the explosion and realized that a way of containing the deadly radiation must be found. The Institute covered the costs of research and development of the polymer.
EKOR was certified for use by the Ukrainian government in August after an initial application of the composite at Reactor 4 proved that EKOR is radiation-resistant, does not degrade even after long-term exposure to radiation, and can withstand extreme physical, chemical, and biological assaults on its structural integrity.
Another, more extensive application is planned for October to develop and fine-tune the methods and equipment for applying EKOR coatings to nuclear waste.
When Reactor 4 was destroyed by an explosion and fire in April 1986, molten nuclear fuel collected beneath the ruined reactor, where it has been emitting deadly radiation ever since. Many substances have been applied in attempts to contain radiation from the fuel masses and surrounding radioactive dust at Chernobyl, but all have disintegrated within three or four months from the effects of the radiation.
The ruined reactor and the nuclear fuel masses on the ground floor below are only partially protected by the concrete structure that now covers the mess.
Rainwater enters the building and carries the radioactivity into the soil and groundwater.
International donors have collected millions of dollars to build a new concrete structure over the reactor, but construction has not yet begun.
Kurchatov Institute scientists also developed advanced robots to apply the EKOR coating in the dangerous working conditions under the failed Reactor 4, where humans would suffer the lethal effects of the radiation.
The rights to produce and market EKOR were acquired by Eurotech, a publicly traded international technology holding and marketing company based in Washington, DC. Eurotech provided the funds to take the polymer from the laboratory stage to testing in the field.
Eurotech President Don Hahnfeldt estimates the total development cost of EKOR to date at approximately $3 million.
Eurotech is currently working with NuSil Technology in Santa Barbara, Calif. to test and prepare EKOR for commercial production in North America, where hundreds of nuclear waste sites emit radiation.
EKOR is non-toxic, highly fire- and heat-resistant, and can be applied to radioactive material on surfaces that are wet, dry, clean, or dirty, according to Peter Gulko, a major shareholder and former director and president of Eurotech. Originally from Kiev, Gulko is a liaison between Eurotech and its affiliates in Russia and Ukraine.
Gulko says EKOR forms an impervious barrier to water and prevents contaminated materials from leaching into the environment. The substance is non-flammable and non-toxic, causing no harmful effects to the environment.
Recent fires near the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state, at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, and at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory have illustrated the potential for future nuclear accidents.
At power plants in the U.S. and across the world, thousands of tons of spent nuclear fuel are waiting for safe disposal.
Only one facility in the world, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, is an operating geological repository designed for permanent disposal of long-lived radioactive wastes. It accepts transuranic, but not high-level nuclear wastes for storage in salt caverns half a mile below the surface of the Earth.
The greatest problem in nuclear waste management is that many of the facilities designed to store and dispose of these wastes have failed to prevent leakage into the environment, leaving the groundwater, surface water, soil, and air at risk of contamination.
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2000. All rights reserved.