The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) has announced that a new nuclear medicine waste processing facility showcasing ANSTO Synroc technology will be the first in the world.
The facility, which is still under construction, uses ANSTO Synroc technology to immobilise waste from the production of molybdenum-99, known as SyMo.
Molybdenum-99, produced in the OPAL multipurpose reactor, is the precursor of technetium-99m, the most commonly used nuclear imaging radio-pharmaceutical.
Technical Director at ANSTO Synroc, Gerry Triani (pictured back row, first on left in the ANSTO team photograph) said ANSTO Synroc combined waste form design and process technologies to immobilise and terminate nuclear wastes, creating a technology tailored for intermediate level liquid waste.
“It is also a flexible platform technology that can be modified to suit other waste streams,” Mr Triani said.
“Although our demonstration plant has been commissioned processing hundreds of kilograms of simulated waste, a fully operational plant treating nuclear waste is the game-changer.”
He said ANSTO Synroc was an innovative technology that was developed at ANSTO over many years.
“It integrates the design of both the waste form and process technology to immobilise and terminate nuclear waste, minimise volume and provide an extremely durable and safe solution for final storage of radioactive waste,” Mr Triani said.
Construction of the Synroc waste treatment plant began in the third quarter of 2018 and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2020.
