Radiochemical Processing Laboratory plays key role in cleanup
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Although not as well known as the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), the Radiochemical Processing Laboratory (RPL) played an important role in bringing EMSL to life in 1997. RPL fulfilled a commitment that Pacific Northwest National Laboratory made to the U.S. Department of Energy to provide a place to conduct the radioactive component of research at EMSL, a national scientific user facility and research organization. Both are world-class laboratories for their type, and anchors to PNNL's work in researching, developing and deploying solutions to our country's critical environmental problems.
RPL's mission is to create and implement innovative processes for environmental cleanup and the beneficial use of radioactive materials. This includes processes for advancing the cleanup of radiological and hazardous wastes, processing and disposing of nuclear fuels, and producing medical isotopes. The RPL also is the Laboratory's only Hazard Category II nuclear facility and one of only two facilities dedicated to multiprogram nuclear science and engineering research that are fully functioning in the U.S.
"Our expertise lies in development, scale-up and deployment of first-of-a-kind processes to solve environmental problems," said Dale Knutson, who manages PNNL's radiochemical science and engineering program. "RPL really complements the fundamental research EMSL is doing in this area. RPL's capabilities provide the deployment path for the next steps in research using nuclear materials." The RPL staff and facilities are capable of performing any mission that requires radionuclide handling, technology development or process optimization.