DOE's Environmental Management leader visits PNNL glass lab

News Brief

April 28, 2017

• Susan Bauer, PNNL, (509) 372-6083

RICHLAND, Wash. - Glass scientists at Pacific Northwest National Lab hosted the D.O.E.'s Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management, Sue Cange earlier this month. DOE's Office of Environmental Management's mission is to complete the safe cleanup of the environmental legacy brought about from 5 decades of nuclear weapons development and government-sponsored nuclear energy research.

Cange was visiting the Hanford nuclear location along with her chief of staff Betsy Connell and associate principle deputy assistant secretary for field operations Stacy Charboneau. They took time out to tour the Lab where PNNL researchers study the science underpinning vitrification - the process of turning nuclear waste into glass. PNNL scientists support DOE's Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, under construction now, where the waste will be mixed with glass-forming materials and melted into a durable glass form for safe, long-term storage.

Cange learned how the challenges of Hanford's chemically diverse waste are met using scientific glass formulation methods to increase waste loading in the glass and minimize the volume of glass and hence reduce the cost of the clean-up effort. Cange also saw the Lab Scale Melter system which is being used to understand the dynamic process of converting the liquid waste into solid glass.

PNNL is world-renowned for its expertise in glass formulation and processing - knowledge that is instrumental to the work done in partnership with the D.O.E. Office of River Protection to develop the vitrification process.

The PNNL Director's Column has more information on how the Lab supports Hanford cleanup efforts.

Tags: Energy, Environment, Fundamental Science, Environmental Remediation, Materials

Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Lab address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. Founded in 1965, PNNL employs 4,400 staff and has an yearly budget of nearly $1 billion. It is managed by Battelle for the D.O.E.'s Office of Science. As the single biggest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, the Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information on PNNL, visit the PNNL News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

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