U of I, Areva partner on 'green' nuclear waste treatment 

The University of Idaho and international nuclear energy giant Areva have inked a deal to use chemistry for extracting enriched uranium from 32 metric tons of incinerator ash at the company’s uranium fuel plant in Richland, Wash.

  The process – which U of I chemistry professor Chien Wai said he’s been researching for about 20 years – uses a fluid form of carbon dioxide called “supercritical,” along with other chemicals, to extract and purify enriched uranium much in the same way caffeine is separated from beverages.

  Wai, who holds 10 patents related to the research, said that five years ago Areva heard of his work and wanted to help develop it. The final phases were completed in partnership with Areva engineer and U of I alumnus Syd Koegler.

  Chemically inert, non-toxic and cheaper to produce than many solvents, supercritical carbon dioxide will allow Areva to reclaim an estimated two tons of enriched uranium from the ash worth about $5 million, and with substantially less environmental impact than disposing of it as waste.

  The process also presents a good business opportunity.

  “Where it will generate revenue is in the future, where we will provide this service to other companies who also produce low-level radioactive waste,” said Areva spokeswoman Denise Woernle.

  Areva plans to construct an ash-uranium recovery plant at the Richland site later this year that would be ready in 2009 to accept shipments of similar ash waste from nuclear power and nuclear medical sources around the country. Officials say the process will recycle the carbon dioxide in a closed loop to reduce emissions.

  Though the technology is jointly owned by Areva and the university, the agreement gives Areva exclusive rights under the patent in exchange for a fee based on either a percentage of the market value of recovered uranium (in the case of Areva processing its own waste) or a percentage of the revenue it earns from recovering waste from third parties. Neither party would release a hard percentage figure.

  “If you can treat nuclear waste in a green way… you’re turning waste into a gold mine,” Wai said. “This is the significance of this process.”

  Vice president for research Jack McIver said the supercritical carbon dioxide process is a great example of what can be done when the university partners with industry.

  “It gets the message out there that we can do this, we’ve gone through the process and we’ve done it successfully,” he said. “We are not only willing to do that, we are anxious to do this kind of work.”

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