Harper International received a contract to supply a hot-cell rotary thermal-processing system designed to treat waste from nuclear medicine production at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). The system includes advanced heating-element design for ease of remote operation and maintenance and enhanced modular design of components for ease of remote maintenance in a hot cell. ANSTO’s Synroc technology has been developed to provide a safe, secure matrix for the immobilization and final disposal of radioactive waste.

Synroc will be used to manage radioactive wastes from the production of the radioisotope Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), which is used for 80% of nuclear medicine procedures. Calcination is a key step in the Synroc process. ANSTO is one of Australia’s largest public research organizations and operates the nation’s only nuclear reactor, OPAL.