Seeking a Solution for Radioactive Waste in Argentina

For every stream of waste, there are different treatment techniques. The key is to find the right ones for Argentina, she explained. “We need to have a good idea of what technological solutions are available out there and identify the ones that match our volume of waste and our radioactivity levels.”

Glass, rock, heat

From among the many safe, innovative techniques that exist to immobilize radionuclides in waste in low volumes, Argentina’s scientists are looking into various methods, said Elvira Maset, Head of the National Programme for Radioactive Waste Management at CNEA. These include pyrolysis, or thermal decomposition, and incineration through plasma or through vitrification.

Thermal decomposition, or waste gasification, is a technology new for Argentina. It involves ionized gas. “We heat up waste in a special oven using ionized air to understand how we can treat the sources and decrease their volume,” said Franco Benedetto, a researcher at the Bariloche Atomic Centre, who has received training through IAEA fellowships in Russia and South Africa.

Another method they are considering is vitrification, which entails heating sources to very high temperatures, until their elements are decomposed and can be bonded into an extremely resistant type of glass. The result is an insoluble, solid waste form that will remain stable for many thousands of years.

Training the young

One of the spinoffs of the IAEA’s support is that it’s benefiting a generation of young engineers, something the nuclear industry is in need of. The institutions the IAEA is working with through CNEA — the Bariloche Atomic Centre, the Constituyentes Atomic Centre and the Ezeiza Atomic Centre — provide an interface with universities across Argentina.

“The old guard is retiring.” said Vittorio Luca, CNEA scientist at the Constituyentes Atomic Centre. “And the young people are here to fill their shoes.”

The young scientists consider the IAEA’s role in information sharing crucial. “It’s not just theoretical training,” said Rodrigo Curi, a scientist at the Constituyentes Atomic Centre who undertook an IAEA fellowship at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. “It’s giving access to high-level facilities, infrastructure and working methods in more advanced countries – and that makes all the difference.”

To specialists in this field, finding the best waste treatment method from the palette available is crucial for waste disposal.

“Our results are important to Argentina because it allows our policymakers to be in a condition to use these waste treatment methods whenever the country will need it,” Curi said. “Ultimately, we’re helping protect future generations.”