11 November 2011

'Waste Not? How Should We Deal With Nuclear Waste?' - public lecture on 15th November

Photo opportunity: 6:45pm, Tuesday, 15th November, D'Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre, Tower Building, University of Dundee

Chemistry has a vital role to play in safely disposing with and recycling nuclear waste, according to a leading scientist who will deliver a public lecture on the subject at the University of Dundee next week.

The recent debate on whether or not to increase the UK’s reliance on nuclear fuel has brought into focus the need to dispose of waste safety and efficiently. This is particularly pressing as it is arguable that the highest cost of our main current energy sources is the waste they produce. Nuclear waste produced from power generation is a complex, and very radioactive, mixture.

And whilst the nuclear material found on beaches in Dalgety Bay recently is not related to the nuclear industry these incidents show the importance of research in to reducing, reusing and recovering radioactive material.

Professor Polly Arnold, from the EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, will address these challenges, and the role chemistry can play in the process in her talk, entitled ‘Waste Not? How Should We Deal With Nuclear Waste?’, which will be held at the D’Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre at 7pm on Tuesday, 15th November.

Professor Arnold will provide background on the processes that generate this waste, and examine current research efforts to reduce, reuse, and even recycle it.

'Our research is very fundamental,' she said. 'We're interested in making compounds that help understand how heavy metals bond to other things.'

'We make esoteric compounds and try to do reactions that challenge peoples preconceived notions about how they should behave. We find this can also be a good way to make other scientists think laterally.'

Hosted by the British Science Association Tayside and Fife branch, this lecture forms part of a free, five-lecture series that discusses cutting edge research of relevance to people's everyday lives.

The event will be held at D’Arcy Thompson lecture Theatre, Tower Building, Old Hawkhill, Dundee, DD1 4HN from 7-8pm on Tuesday, 15th November.

Admission is free and there is no need to book in advance.

For further information about this event, visit www.britishscienceassociation-taysidefife.org/lectures/.

The British Science Association is a Registered charity with the Charity Commission. Scottish no SC039236.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277