Tackling One of the Most Extreme Environments on Earth: Nuclear Waste

The complicated chemistry of legacy nuclear waste presents a challenge in environmental management. The presence of radioactive ions induces chemical changes that range from faster than the blink of an eye to decades in the making. Since 2016, researchers led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have been persistent in tracking and analyzing the chemical phenomena that occur in the extreme environments found in legacy nuclear waste.