Migration and Immoblization of Radionuclides in Nuclear Waste Disposal

Managing nuclear waste remains one of the most significant challenges for the nuclear industry in terms of both safety and environmental concerns. This book offers a thorough examination of the migration and immobilization of nuclear waste.

Focusing on the chemistry of radioactive elements in natural rocks, waters, and engineered barriers, the book details how key isotopes travel through or are retained by soils, clays, and groundwater. It also examines how chemical conditions, mineral surfaces, and colloidal particles control the movement of radionuclides and how glass, cement, and advanced ceramics can contain waste for long periods. The chapters in this book cover radioactivity essentials, waste generation from medical, energy, and industrial applications, and processing, transporting, and storage of waste. Accessible case studies―from Three Mile Island and Chernobyl to Fukushima―demonstrate how nuclear accidents unfold and how emergency responses can limit environmental harm.

This book will appeal to engineers, scientists, and researchers working in nuclear energy and waste management.

Binglin Guo is a professor and a National Excellent Young Scholar at the School of Civil Engineering, Hefei University of Technology. He is the director of the Anhui Engineering Research Center for Low-Carbon Technology of Cementitious Materials. His research interests include solid waste utilization, environmental cement chemistry, and low-carbon cementitious materials.

Bin Ma is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow and a National Excellent Young Scholar. He is also a professor of cement environmental chemistry at North China Electric Power University in Beijing, China. His research interests include solid waste disposal chemistry and cement environmental chemistry, especially radioactive waste treatment.

Lei Wang is a Hundred-Talent Program Research Fellow, a National Excellent Young Scholar, and a Humboldt Fellow at the College of Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University. His research interests include sustainable waste-to-energy technologies, low-carbon hazardous waste treatment, and CO₂ sequestration and utilization in minerals.