Synroc (synthetic rock for nuclear waste)
Synroc (roca sintética para residuos nucleares)
- Date
- 1978 · confidence high
- Place
- Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
- Credited to
- Ted Ringwood
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
A titanate ceramic (hollandite, zirconolite and perovskite) that locks the radioactive elements of high-level waste into its crystal structure. It mimics natural minerals that have retained uranium and thorium for millions of years.
Published in Nature in 1979. It was an alternative to borosilicate vitrification; industrial uptake has been limited and it has been used in pilot projects.
What it led to
- immobilisation of nuclear waste in ceramic
- trials with plutonium wastes
- applied mineralogy in waste management