Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Kurion Targets Hanford Cleanup Site

Irvine-based Kurion, the developer of nuclear waste remediation technology, is eyeing a new challenge: cleaning up the notorious Hanford nuclear weapons site, according to a report today from the Wall Street Journal. Kurion, which saw its first deployment of its technology at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan immediately after the Japanese tsunami, apparently is hoping to seal a deal to help clean up the mess at Hanford. Kurion's technology absorbs radioactive waste and converts it into glass, making it easier to dispose of safely. Kurion started up a plant earlier this year in Richland, Washington--near Hanford-- for vitrifying radioactive waste. Kurion set up its offices in Irvine in December 2010, as it started to work on its nuclear waste cleanup technology; the firm's technology was then called to help cleanup the Fukushima disaster a few short months later after the Japanese tsunami.