|
HNS'
Radiation Resistant Polymer
HNS' President, Dr. R. Soundararajan, has developed
a polymer that has many applications in the nuclear and radioactive
waste industry. HNS Polymer is a binary liquid system, when combined
with Depleted Uranium 238 (DU), creates a very effective radiation
shielding material. By adding a third component, curing times can
be varied from 3 minutes to 18 hours.
Some uses of
HNS' polymer and DU/polymer composites are:
- Processed
into bricks, tiles, or building materials for shielding permanent
or temporary storage facilities for radioactive materials.
- Used as a
shielding material at nuclear power plants (i.e. reactor cores,
spent fuel pools, etc.).
- Applied to
exterior and interior surfaces of containers for transportation
of spent fuel or radwaste.
- Use for shielded
Transuranic (TRU) and radioactive mixed waste storage.
- Use to coat
electronic equipment to protect from electromagnetic pulses, radio
wave effects, and solar radiation interference.
- Encapsulation
of weapons grade plutonium and/or uranium making them impossible
for terrorists to extract.
- Incorporated
into a sprinkler system at nuclear facilities (power plants, research
facilities, weapons facilities) for distribution after an accident.
- Broad area
applications by spraying or grouting to immobilize radioactive
material.
HNS' polymer
has been tested at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Argonne
National Laboratory and proven to be radiation resistant, non-biodegradable,
non-toxic, non-combustible, virtually non-leachable, and has an
unconfined compressive strength of ~6000psi.
Benefits
The key benefits
of HNS' Polymer are:
- Ease of application.
- Low cost
alternative to other technologies (i.e. concrete entombment, vitrification)
- Radiation
proof, non-biodegradable, non-toxic, non-combustible, virtually
non-leachable, and has an unconfined compressive strength of ~6000psi.
- Exhibits
a 1-3% volume reduction after curing. Conventional grouting techniques
typically have a 15-20% volume increase. (Resulting in smaller
landfill requirements)
- Immobilization
of airborne radionuclides in the event of fallout or a "dirty
bomb."
- Long-term
stability for containment of radioactive materials.
- Can be combined
with "waste" materials (depleted uranium) to make a
radiation shielding product.
Financial
Savings Over Conventional Stabilization Methods
The financial
savings reach into the multi-billion dollar range. Major areas where
cost savings will occur include:
- Use of depleted
uranium oxide (currently stored as DUF6) to make a polymer composite
for radiation shielding will have cost savings in several categories:
- The depleted
uranium will be used to make transportation/storage containers,
thus negating the need for disposal.
- The process
makes a waste product into a viable asset.
- Transportation
of the depleted uranium to an off-site storage facility will
not be necessary.
- Use of
DU is considered resource recovery/recycling.
If the current
proposed Yucca Mountain site is
not approved, the alternatives would cost $51.98-$57.229 billion
dollars for the first 100 years, then $0.425 billion each year for
the next 9,900 years.
DOE assumes
the on-site radioactive storage containers will need replaced every
100 years due to degradation by radioactive waste. Using HNS' Polymer
and Polymer Composites, tank replacement would be every 200 years,
thus reducing costs (tank cost, management, security, etc.) by $0.212
billion per year for 9,900 years - a total savings of $2.1 trillion.
Summary
HNS' Polymer
has been proven to be an excellent material for use in the nuclear
industry. Immobilization and stabilization of radioactive wastes
can be achieved cheaper and faster by utilizing HNS' Polymer to
encapsulate, spray, or grout both high-level and low-level radioactive
waste.
Click
here to download a copy of HNS' Polymer informational leaflet
(Adobe Acrobat format).
Please contact
us if you would like additional information about HNS' Polymer
and its applications..
|
