{"id":79337,"date":"2026-07-15T18:28:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T12:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=79337"},"modified":"2026-07-15T18:31:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T13:01:18","slug":"nuclear-wastewater-filtration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/15-07-2026\/nuclear-wastewater-filtration","title":{"rendered":"Study Finds Efficient Way to Filter Nuclear Wastewater"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Science and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A new study published in Environmental Science &amp; Technology may finally offer a way to <strong>efficiently clean tritiated water.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The research team, from across China, achieved this using a <strong>metal-organic framework,<\/strong> work on which won the<strong> Nobel Prize for chemistry last year.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In 2023, Japan began releasing <strong>treated wastewater from the ruined Fukushima<\/strong><strong>nuclear power plant<\/strong> into the <strong>Pacific Ocean.\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The water had been<strong> filtered to remove most heavy radioactive elements, <\/strong>yet one particular contaminant remained: <strong>tritium<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tritium is<strong> easily absorbed by the bodies of living creatures<\/strong> and rapidly <strong>distributed via blood.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tritium<\/strong> is a <strong>radioactive isotope of hydrogen<\/strong>. When it bonds with oxygen, it forms <strong>tritiated water, or HTO<\/strong>.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Because tritiated water is chemically almost identical to regular water, it is <strong>extremely difficult to separate the two.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For many decades, officials in the global nuclear industry have opted to <strong>dilute tritiated water<\/strong>, i.e. mixing it in large quantities of regular water.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Current Methods of Removing Tritium<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The current most practical way to remove tritium from tritiated water is <strong>water distillation, <\/strong>i.e. boiling water and separating the components based on their slightly different boiling points.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>But the difference is so feeble that operators need a <strong>distillation tower hundreds of metres tall,<\/strong> which is expensive, uses large amounts of energy, and impractical for the millions of tonnes of water stored at Fukushima.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Current distillation towers use systems called packings<\/strong>, these are the materials inside the tower that <strong>provide surfaces where steam and liquid can interact.\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Until now,<strong> these packings were passive: <\/strong>they just sat there and let gravity do the work.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the new study, <strong>the researchers made the packing material \u2018active\u2019.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>They <strong>coated a stainless-steel mesh<\/strong> with a <strong>metal-organic framework <\/strong>called <strong>NH2-MIL-101(Cr). <\/strong>A metal-organic framework is like a <strong>microscopic sponge.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Adding NH2-MIL-101(Cr)<strong> increased the available\u00a0 area of the packing by 32-fold.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The chromium-oxygen clusters inside the framework <strong>\u2018grabbed\u2019 tritium atoms from the liquid and swapped them with regular hydrogen atoms, <\/strong>with nitrogen and hydrogen attachments also facilitating this swapping.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"b3d1ce\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-150-1024x576.png\" alt=\"filter nuclear wastewater\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-79338\" style=\"--dominant-color: #b3d1ce; width:432px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-150-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-150-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-150-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-150.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Outcome:<\/strong> The modified packing achieved a <strong>separation efficiency of 42.5 theoretical plates per meter, <\/strong>a record-setting figure in the world of chemical engineering.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>At an industrial height of 10 m, the new material would be <strong>134-times more effective <\/strong>than the current best-reported material.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is also<strong> one-million-times more effective<\/strong> than the standard commercial packings in the industry today.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Significance:\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This strategy provides a <strong>new approach for improving the detritiation of tritiated water<\/strong> and reducing tritium releases to natural water bodies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The results highlight the <strong>potential of programmable porous materials to address challenging isotope-contaminant separations<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><strong>Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi<\/strong> were awarded the <strong>Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It was awarded for discovering and creating a class of materials, called <strong>metal-organic frameworks (MOF).<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Metal Organic Frameworks: <\/strong>MOFs are <strong>crystalline structures<\/strong> in which metal ions serve as<strong> nodes and organic molecules as connectors.\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The resulting structure can have<strong> enormous internal surface areas<\/strong> \u2014 thousands of square metres per gram \u2014 and their pores can be <strong>customised to attract or hold specific molecules.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e9e5e3\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"665\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-151-1024x665.png\" alt=\"nobel prize in chemistry 2025\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-79341\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e9e5e3; aspect-ratio:1.5410507737401116;width:294px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-151-1024x665.png 1024w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-151-300x195.png 300w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-151-768x498.png 768w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-151-1536x997.png 1536w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-151.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>MOFs form a three-dimensional network with large, porous cavities; <\/strong>this design allows gases and liquids to flow through, making MOFs highly adaptable for various applications.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>By carefully choosing the building blocks, researchers can control the size and <strong>shape of the cavities and the chemical environment within.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As a result, MOFs are among the<strong> most versatile materials ever created.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The unique properties of MOFs have led to their application in various fields:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Water harvesting:<\/strong> MOFs can extract water from dry air, offering a potential solution for water-scarce regions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Pollutant Removal:<\/strong> They can filter out harmful substances like PFAS from water, addressing environmental contamination.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Carbon capture: <\/strong>MOFs are effective in capturing carbon dioxide, aiding in efforts to mitigate climate change.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hydrogen storage:<\/strong> Their porous nature allows for the safe storage of hydrogen, crucial for clean energy applications.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/science\/new-mesh-filters-tritium-from-nuclear-wastewater-at-record-speed\/article71216070.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> A new study published in Environmental Science &#038; Technology may finally offer a way to efficiently clean tritiated water. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> About <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> In 2023, Japan began releasing treated wastewater from the ruined Fukushimanuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.\u00a0 <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> The water had been filtered to remove most heavy radioactive elements, yet one particular contaminant remained: tritium. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/15-07-2026\/nuclear-wastewater-filtration \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79337"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79344,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79337\/revisions\/79344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}