Shafer: TRISO fuel resists leaching, whereas molten salts require waste conditioning
Dr. Jen Shafer (Jen Schaefer) · The state and future of nuclear waste · Mar 26, 2026 · at 24:06
Nuclear expert Dr. Jen Shafer explains to Shayle Kann how advanced reactor fuel forms dictate long-term spent fuel durability and repository preparation needs.
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“Triso, again, is a wonderful waste form for all the reasons that people love it as a fuel form, right? The radioactive material is not getting out when it's reacting in the reactor, and it's not getting out when it's Sitting on the side of the building. However, if you're dealing with something that's fuel dissolved in a molten salt, right, well, we know that table salt doesn't hold up very well to water, right, so this would not be a very good waste form, and so you end up in a scenario where for especially things like metallic fuels or even fuel dissolved in molten salts, that you need to do some form of waste conditioning in order to prepare it for a repository”
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