Nuclear Waste: A Rock-Solid Solution

May 30, 2010 - PRLog -- When it comes to immobilizing nuclear waste, long term stability is vital. Radioactive wastes have been solidified in a cost-efficient, high-performance rock. This is not mother nature's rock. It is instead a high-quality man-made silicate rock, conveniently produced at ordinary temperatures and without pressure. A comparable geosynthesis more gradually occurred in nature in great abundance to produce more than 55 percent of the Earth’s crust.

The low-temperature rock-making system is remarkable because natural silicate rock forms in the Earth under high heat and intense pressure. The man-made rock requires no special equipment to produce, either.

Unlike nature's rock that takes eons to form, the artificial rock forms quickly. Using a special rock-forming chemistry, a mixture will turn to solid stone in moments, hours or days. The solidification time depends on the rock-making formula one needs to work with.

Only common mixing and molding procedures are used when solidifying hazardous wastes into rock monoliths. The ease with which the rock is made also makes it ideal for many industrial purposes that do not involve storing hazardous wastes, including building strong infrastructure that is also fireproof.    

In pilot projects, sludges containing radionuclides have been solidified as rock monoliths. So have toxic heavy metals and hydro-carbons. Testing has shown that the waste solidified as rock monoliths has excellent long-term structural and chemical stability. Tests show that these toxin-containing rock monoliths also have excellent microbial stability. They satisfy the highest standards of contaminant retention.

The waste stored as monolithic rock is also easy to handle and monitor. Battelle Institute, in Germany, tested the rock-making system for the European high-level nuclear waste classification. Their report states the it provides a "valuable alternative" to glassification for radioactive wastes.

Liquid wastes are much more stable once they are molecularity locked into a rock matrix this way. When liquid radioactive waste is solidified into the rock, the waste is well-dispersed. In this situation, if the rock were to break, the leakage would be slight. This presents a huge advantage over storing wastes as liquids. Storing radioactive wastes in liquid form has resulted in costly, disastrous spills.

The U.S. has not built a long-term storage repository for its spent nuclear fuel. This has resulted in filled temporary storage pools at many nuclear plants. The numerous pools are filled with extremely hazardous nuclear wastes. The overall nuclear waste situation is so critical that in mid 2010, plans were being made to allow Vermont to dump nuclear waste in a remote part of Texas. There is a dire need for a long-term containment system that can prevent nuclear wastes from being trucked, which makes them more prone to mishap.

Studies for storing nuclear wastes trapped within the geological matrix of the man-made rock monoliths have been conducted by the following companies.

B.P.S. Engineering GmbH
WISMUT GmbH
Cordi-Géopolymère SA

The pilot projects conducted demonstrate a high-performance material and operation carried out at a realistic cost. When factoring in the reduced effort required to prepare, operate and close the landfill, this rock-solidification method resulted in approximately the same low unit cost as working with ordinary portland cement based concrete.

Several tons of radioactive uranium at WISMUT’s Schlema-Alberoda water treatment plant were solidified into the rock matrix. Several testing procedures show the artificial rock solidification process to be a prime candidate in terms of outstanding performance and cost efficiency.

For detailed information, see the following publication and visit the geopolymer.org website for updates on the applications and performance of the rock:

The Géopolymère ‘99 Proceedings
2nd International Conference on Geopolymers
visit:
http://www.geopolymer.org/

This rock-making technology turns out to be a very ancient process that was recovered by modern science. Ancient archaeological examples demonstrate the longevity of the rock. The extreme longevity of archaeological examples aligns with the results shown in simulated testing for the modern counterpart rock.

Much information is provided in a new book showing stunning ancient examples. The book provides convincing evidence that certain magnificent, large monuments and smaller rock artifacts could not have been achieved any other way than by making artificial stone.

The Great Pyramid Secret: Egypt's Amazing Lost Mystery Science Returns

With unique research contributions from MIT, Drexel University, the NASA-funded Space Technology Center of the University of Kansas, and others.

Visit:
http://www.margaretmorrisbooks.com

You can order the book from Barnes & Noble Bookstore:
U.S. Callers: 1-800-843-2665      
Outside the U.S.: 201-559-3882      
Or, you may special order from any bookstore or ask your library for the book.

Book Reviews:
"A must-have book destined for classical immortality."
— THE MINDQUEST REVIEW OF BOOKS, summer 2010

"The Great Pyramid Secret is a choice read for those curious about the origins of the pyramids."
— MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW, APRIL 2010 (Small Press Bookwatch, Volume 9, Number 4), posted as a 5-STAR REVIEW AT AMAZON.COM.  
   
"Amazing....sure to become the common knowledge within a generation."
— ALLBOOKS REVIEWS, March 2010    
   
"Methodical and organized, Morris presents her ideas to the academic community as well as to casual readers interested in pursuing Egyptian archaeological science for entertainment alone. She does not gloss over any aspect of her hypothesis that might be difficult to back with facts; instead, she supports her statements with even greater evidence. She does not come across as a scientist looking for shock value recognition. She believes the pyramids were built using a simple, but sophisticated, Late Stone Age technology."
FOREWARD CLARION REVIEW, March 2010

The author uses her book as a fund raising tool for environmental and other worthwhile causes, and to raise public awareness about the fireproofing and environmental problems that can be solved with the use of this rock-making technology. Anyone who needs a high profit fund raising product may contact rm@margaretmorrisbooks.com.

The engineering properties of the man-made silicate rock are very impressive. In blind studies, rock made this way has fooled geologists into thinking the rock was nature's own — even when these experts investigated samples under a microscope, with a hand lens, and by naked eye inspection.

Also see:
http://www.prlog.org/10619408-ancient-egypts-amazing-lost...