Remediation of radioactive effluents using ceramic processing

• Grant number: 24/23610-3
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: October 01, 2025
• End date: September 30, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Nonmetallic Materials
• Principal Investigator: Sonia Regina Homem de Mello Castanho
• Grantee: Sonia Regina Homem de Mello Castanho
• Host Institution: Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares (IPEN). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• City of the host institution: São Paulo
• Associated researchers: Chieko Yamagata ; Danilo Lopes Costa e Silva ; Mariana Silva de Araujo
• Associated scholarship(s): 25/22802-9 - Immobilization of Radioactive Waste in Borosilicate Vitreous Matrix Modified with Niobium by Direct Melting, BP.TT; 25/24084-6 - Immobilization of Radioactive Waste in a Glass Matrix by Sol-Gel Synthesis, BP.TT

Abstract

The safe and efficient management of radioactive waste (RW) is a challenge for the Brazilian nuclear sector, demanding the development of technologies that guarantee environmental protection and public health. This project proposes the immobilization of high-level RW in vitreous matrices, a process not yet carried out in the country, using two distinct routes: melting and sol-gel. The project aims to expand research in the line of investigation of vitreous materials in applications for the immobilization of RW, increasing the range of possible processes and compositions applied both to inventories for RW declared worldwide, as well as those planned for the Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor (RMB). With this perspective and, considering the expertise of the team, the project, to be developed at the Center for Science and Technology of Materials (CECTM), presents important complementary research fronts for the use of amorphous/vitreous/glass-ceramic materials for application in the immobilization of radionuclides. In this scenario, the group that presents the focus on innovation and obtaining products for especially strategic applications considers, in this development, the issues directed to: (1) Sustainability and circular economy with the use of biomass in the manufacture of glass for immobilization of radionuclides according to the Sustainable Development Goals numbers 6, 7, 9, 12 and 13 established in the UN 2030 Agenda; (2) Development of functional vitreous nanostructures suitable for immobilization and/or incorporation of RW, synthesized by the sol-gel process; (3) Research in the formulation of compositions and generation of new glass-ceramic products suitable for waste immobilization, evaluating their resistance to irradiation. (AU)