Avoid the fallout: New ligands for nuclear waste treatment

(PhysOrg.com) -- Storage and containment of the "nuclear legacy", the highly radiotoxic residues from spent nuclear reactors is a pressing problem for the nuclear power industry that must be solved if nuclear power is to have a genuine contribution to providing carbon footprint minimised power. The search for new ways to lessen the environmental impact of such events is therefore of utmost importance. An EU-funded team led by Laurence Harwood has now developed a new ligand that may selectively remove radiotoxic materials from aqueous radioactive waste. As the scientists report in the European Journal of Organic Chemistry, their ligand is based on the current benchmark ligand system used in the SANEX process.