OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management is working to reduce the amount of old radioactive material in research sites and facilities in Oak Ridge.
According to a release from the OREM, the U.S. Department of Energy moved a "radioisotope thermoelectric generator" that had strontium-90 to a commercial nuclear facility out of state. Strontium-90 is a kind of radioactive material usually produced by nuclear fission. It was in the "Byproduct Utilization program 500-watt RTG," a piece of equipment built in the mid-1980s but never deployed.
It was kept at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for around 40 years, inside a facility scheduled to be demolished.
The office got help from United Cleanup Oak Ridge to clean up the site, and the generator will be recycled by Zeno Power Systems. The company will use the strontium-90 in its new radioisotope power systems.
"The technology in these power systems is capable of converting heat generated by the decay of radioisotopes into a durable, reliable source of electricity in remote and challenging environments," the release said. "This transfer accelerates the clean-out around that facility, avoids the costs associated with disposal, and significantly reduces liability at ORNL."
