An Iodine Chaser

Tina Nenoff is part of a scientific team at the Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, N.M., seeking a "waste form" in which iodine-129 can be immobilized. In its elemental state, I-129 is one of the most problematic of isotopes; it will change directly from solid to gas without going through a liquid phase. Because it likes to be a gas and is easily soluble in water, it is highly mobile in the environment. It also has a fairly low melting point, which rules out the borosilicate glass used to vitrify other high-level waste; temperatures high enough to melt glass will evaporate iodine right out of the mixture.

Miller-McCune