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Going Nuclear: Notes from the officially unofficial book tour
I work in the analytical labs at one of Europe’s oldest and largest nuclear sites: Sellafield, in northwestern England. I spend my days at the fume hood front, pipette in one hand and radiation probe in the other (and dosimeter pinned to my chest, of course). Outside the lab, I have a second job: I moonlight as a writer and public speaker. My new popular science book—Going Nuclear: How the Atom Will Save the World—came out last summer, and it feels like my life has been running at full power ever since.
Kris Dylst, John Seghers, Frank Druyts, Johan Braet
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 54 | Number 1 | July 2008 | Pages 215-218
Technical Paper | Waste Handling | doi.org/10.13182/FST08-A1798
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Recycling beryllium used in a fusion reactor might be a good way to overcome problems related to the disposal of neutron irradiated beryllium. The critical issues for the recycling of used first wall beryllium are the presence of tritium and (transuranic) impurities. High temperature annealing seems to be the most promising technique for detritiation. Purification of the detritiated beryllium can be achieved by chlorination of the irradiated beryllium and the subsequent reduction of beryllium chloride to highly pure metallic beryllium. After that, the beryllium can be re-fabricated into first wall tiles via powder metallurgy which is already a mature industrial practice. This paper outlines the path to define the experimental needs for beryllium recycling and tackles problems related to the detritiation and the purification via the chlorine route.