synroc

An artificial ceramic material used to store high-level radioactive waste. The waste is added to mixed powdered metal oxides from which the ceramic is formed by heat and compression. Radioactive waste atoms displace some host atoms, and so are chemically bound into a material similar in type to natural ceramic. It is under development as an alternative to storage using glass.

Synroc, a portmanteau from "synthetic rock", is a possible means of safely storing and disposing of radioactive waste. Unlike borosilicate glass, which is amorphous, Synroc is a ceramic that incorporates the radioactive waste into its crystal structure. Although it has not yet experienced commercial use, in April of 2005, the process was chosen for a multi-million dollar "demonstration" contract to eliminate five tonnes of plutonium-contaminated waste at British Nuclear Fuel's Sellafield plant, on the northwest coast of England.