Patent ID: 6355857
Filing Date: 2002-03-12
Classification: G21F

Abstract:
A method for treating a waste material which includes at least one type of radioactive isotope to be alloyed with a reactant metal alloy, the method comprising the steps of:(a) identifying each radioactive isotope which is present in the waste material at a detectable level and determining the concentration of each said radioactive isotope in the waste material; (b) producing the reactant metal alloy for a selected volume of the waste material, the reactant metal alloy being held in a molten state and including at least one chemically active metal and, for each type of expected radioactive emission associated with the selected volume of the waste material, at least one corresponding radiation absorbing metal, each corresponding radiation absorbing metal being capable of absorbing the respective type of expected radioactive emission; and (c) adding the selected volume of the waste material to the molten reactant metal alloy.