Final report: Accelerated beta decay for disposal of fission fragment wastes

Technical Report · Mon Mar 06 04:00:00 EST 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/807793· OSTI ID:807793

Reiss, Howard R ^[1]

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1. American University, Washington, DC (US)

The fundamental theory of the interaction of intense, low-frequency electromagnetic fields with certain radioactive nuclei has been fully formulated. The nuclei are of the type that exists in high-level radioactive wastes that are end products of the production of energy from nuclear fission. The basic physical mechanisms that underlie the coupling of the applied field to the nucleus have been identified. Both the basic theory and numerical predictions that stem from it support the conclusion that high-level radioactive wastes can be disposed of by substantially accelerating the rate of radioactive decay. Some old experiments on the acceleration of this type of radioactivity, with results that were not understood at the time, have been re-examined. Their interpretation is now clear, and the experiments are found to be in agreement with the theory.

• Research Organization: Physics Department, American University, Washington, DC (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Research (ER) (US)
• DOE Contract Number: FG02-96ER12195
• OSTI ID: 807793
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ACCELERATION
BETA DECAY
BETA-MINUS DECAY
DECAY
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
FISSION
FISSION FRAGMENTS
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
INTERACTIONS
NUCLEI
PRODUCTION
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVITY
SELECTION RULES
TRANSMUTATION