Beryllium Technology Research in the United States

While most active research involving beryllium in the United States remains tied strongly to biological effects, there are several areas of technology development in the last two years that should be mentioned. (1) Beryllium disposed of in soil vaults at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) has been encapsulated in-situ by high-temperature and pressure injection of a proprietary wax based material to inhibit corrosion. (2) A research program to develop a process for removing heavy metals and cobalt from irradiated beryllium using solvent extraction techniques has been initiated to remove components that prevent the beryllium from being disposed of as ordinary radioactive waste. (3) The JUPITER-II program at the INL Safety and Tritium Applied Research (STAR) facility has addressed the REDOX reaction of beryllium in molten Flibe (a mixture of LiF and BeF2) to control tritium, particularly in the form of HF, bred in the Flibe by reactions involving both beryllium and lithium. (4) Work has been performed at Los Alamos National Laboratory to produce beryllium high heat flux components by plasma spray deposition on macro-roughened substrates. Finally, (5) corrosion studies on buried beryllium samples at the RWMC have shown that the physical form of somemore » of the corroded beryllium is very filamentary and asbestos-like. This form of beryllium may exacerbate the contraction of chronic beryllium disease.« less