X-Rays Put Nuclear Waste in New Light

摘要

Everyone has a trick or two - weight, balance, sound -to guess what is inside a sealed package. But when the package contains 30-to-40-year-old waste from Britain's nuclear reactors, those options are completely off the table. Those stainless steel drums contain metal-clad spent uranium embedded in concrete, and they are highly radioactive. The only way to handle them safely is from behind 2-to-3-meter-thick concrete walls and leaded glass windows using automated equipment. Yet a very small number of these drums have begun to bulge after many years in storage, raising questions about what is happening within. The only way to know for sure is to sneak a peek inside.