University of Sheffield scientists help clear waste after world’s worst nuclear accident

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On the 35th anniversary of one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters, a New Yorkshire-led study has been published that could help clean up the most dangerous radioactive materials that remain at the Chernobyl site.

Monday, April 26, 2021, 6:00 a.m.

On April 25 and 26, 1986, the worst nuclear accident in history occurred when a reactor in a nuclear power plant exploded and burned. After more than 30 years, scientists estimate that the zone around the former Chernobyl plant will not be habitable for up to 20,000 years.

Now a team of scientists from the University of Sheffield has developed an innovative way of using ultralight X-rays to understand some of the most dangerous materials left in the nuclear reactor in northern Ukraine.

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The talented runner, 18, from the tiny village of North Yorkshire, receives a scholarship for Ivy L …A military helicopter is spreading a few things designed to reduce radioactive contamination of the air above the Chernobyl nuclear power plant days after the No. 4 reactor explosion, the world’s worst nuclear accident of the 20th century. Credit: STF / AFP / Getty Images

Scientists say the insightful results – which to date are the “most detailed results” of the chemical makeup of the radioactive materials in the facility’s molten core – could pave the way to safely remove hazardous waste from the site and prevent future nuclear disasters.

Dr. Claire Corkhill, the University of Sheffield project leader, stressed the urgency of the research as only a very limited number of samples have so far been analyzed by scientists around the world. This is because the most dangerous materials that remain in Chernobyl are so dangerous and hinder efforts to safely contain the materials or remove them from the disaster area.

Dr. Corkhill told the Yorkshire Post, “This is such a big breakthrough because it opens up a world of opportunities to gain a deeper understanding of some of the most dangerous materials that remain in Chernobyl.

“These hazardous materials are so dangerous that no one has been able to analyze them in detail, which is hindering efforts to shut down the site. Our study found a surefire way to do this. “

On the 35th anniversary of one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters, the University of Sheffield released new research that could help clean up the most dangerous radioactive materials that remain at the Chernobyl site. Photo credit: Danny Lawson / PA

As part of the research, scientists examined simulating Chernobyl material that was produced in Switzerland and the United States using two of the brightest microscopes in the world, known as X-ray synchrotrons, using facilities in Sheffield. Here they could measure very small samples of their material and identify uranium-containing features that were one-twentieth the size of a human hair.

By generating 2D chemical images of these uranium features, the team was able to reconstruct the timeline of the events that occurred in the moments immediately following the accident during the formation of the molten nuclear fuel.

Dr. Corkhill, a research fellow and reader at the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Sheffield, said the method could be used to safely analyze real samples from Chernobyl like “never before”.

“Like a forensic analysis of a crime scene, chemical analysis allowed us to piece together the final moments of Chernobyl nuclear fuel, which, along with other components in the reactor, had melted into volcanic lava,” said Dr. Corkhill.

In the picture Dr. Claire Corkhill, research fellow and reader in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Sheffield. Submitted photo

Dr. Corkhill said the new research will help shed leading light on nuclear fuel behavior in accident scenarios that will be helpful in future radioactive material cleanup missions.

“Our study … paves the way for the analysis of real nuclear meltdown fuels from Chernobyl and Fukushima,” said Dr. Corkhill. “Using such small samples dramatically reduces the risk associated with their analysis and opens up extremely exciting ways to aid the cleaning process.”

The study to safely study Chernobyl nuclear fuel chemistry using microfocus X-ray analysis was published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A.

35 years have passed since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Pictured are women wearing face masks to protect themselves from the coronavirus that rang at a memorial to the victims of the Chernobyl tragedy in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev last year. A reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded on April 26, 1986, causing an explosion. The subsequent fire spat a radioactive cloud over much of Northern Europe. Credit: AP Photo / Efrem Lukatsky.

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