Education and Training Series #66: Nuclear Waste Management Strategy for Molten Salt Reactor Systems
Part of a webinar series hosted by the GIF Education and Training Working Group since 2016.
Who should attend?
Policymakers, industry professionals, regulators, researchers, students, the general public.
About the "GIF Education and Training" Webinars
These webinars, organised by the GIF Education and Training Working Group are streamed live monthly. The recordings and slide decks are accessible after the webinar on this website. These webinars cover a very broad range of technical and policy related topics. At the end of 2023 they have been viewed by more than 15000 people (approximately half of the views during the live streams and the other half views being of the archives on the public GIF website). In total, the GIF webinars have reached Generation IV enthusiasts, scientists, and engineers in more than 80 countries.
These webinars are organised and hosted by the GIF Education and Training Working Group (ETWG).
About this Webinar
Molten salt reactors (MSRs) are being considered as one of the potential nuclear options to meet future energy demands. While the MSR designs differ from the more traditional light water reactor, many of the waste streams are similar between the concepts. Other streams differ drastically. This presentation outlines strategies for the treatment and processing of MSR-type wastes from concepts of reconditioning and recycle of certain components to partitioning and direct immobilization of other waste components. The primary focus will be on the management of fuel salt related wastes while other streams unique to MSRs are also briefly discussed.
Presentation made during the webinar
Meet the presenter
Dr. John Vienna is a Laboratory Fellow in Materials Science at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Ceramics Engineering from Alfred University and a Ph.D. degree in Materials Science from Washington State University. Dr. Vienna joined PNNL in 1993. Throughout his career, has served in numerous technical leadership roles in nuclear waste management, including serving the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy as a technical lead for nuclear waste treatment.
Dr. Brian Riley has a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Washington State University. He is a Senior Materials Scientist in the Radiological Materials Group at PNNL and is a Technical Team Leader for the Waste Form Development Team. His research primarily focuses on salt waste form development and salt waste partitioning methods with funding from DOE Office of Nuclear Energy. Recently, Dr. Riley has been performing and leading research on various projects in these areas as well as looking at methods for treating salt wastes from molten salt reactor, as well as developing and testing sorbents for capturing volatile radionuclides such as iodine gas.