ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Aug 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2026
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2026
Latest News
Undeclared uranium hitches a ride on cobalt exports from Congo, study says
Philippe (left) and Manzuk quantified the amount of uranium that has been exported from the DRC in cobalt shipments or left behind in the environment. (Photo: Joel Hallberg/UW–Madison)
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Princeton University have published a study in Nature Communications that calls attention to a blind spot in nuclear nonproliferation: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has exported thousands of metric tons of uranium, and there is no accounting for where it has gone.
In partnership with Lighthouse Reports and the Financial Times, UW–Madison nuclear engineering professor and nuclear security expert Sébastien Philippe and Ryan Manzuk, a geologist and research fellow in Philippe’s group and at Princeton, conducted the study using countrywide mineralization and geochemical data.
S. Chiriki, J. Fachinger, R. Moormann, H.-K. Hinssen, A. Bukaemskiy, R. Odoj
Nuclear Technology | Volume 168 | Number 2 | November 2009 | Pages 264-269
Neutron Data | Special Issue on the 11th International Conference on Radiation Shielding and the 15th Topical Meeting of the Radiation Protection and Shielding Division (Part 2) / Decontamination/Decommissioning | doi.org/10.13182/NT09-A9192
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Large spallation sources are intended to be constructed in Europe (EURISOL nuclear physics facility and European Spallation Source). These facilities accumulate more than 20 tonnes of irradiated mercury in the target, which has to be treated as highly radioactive and chemotoxic waste. Because solids are the only appropriate (immobile) form for this radiotoxic and toxic type of waste, solidification is required for irradiated mercury. Our irradiation experimental studies on mercury waste revealed that mercury sulfide is a reasonable solid for disposal and shows larger stability in assumed accidents with water ingress in a repository compared to amalgams. For preparation of mercury sulfide, a wet process is more suitable than a dry one. It is easier to perform under hot cell conditions and allows complete Hg conversion. Embedding HgS in a cementitious matrix increases its stability.