Los Alamos scientists recognized for nuclear waste management solutions
International conference spotlights young chemist, ‘superior’ papers
Los Alamos National Laboratory had a strong showing at the 2026 Waste Management Conference, which drew more than 2,900 participants from 30 countries to discuss radioactive material management and related topics.
Sarah E. Lu, a postdoctoral researcher at Los Alamos, received the WM Symposia Young Professional Award for her influence as a nuclear science educator and as a radioanalytical chemist specializing in microfluidic systems for nuclear safety, radiometric detection and environmental monitoring.
Numerous Los Alamos co-authors contributed to six of the papers celebrated as “superior” for advancing the management of radioactive waste and radioactive material. They brought expertise from the Lab’s Earth and Environmental Sciences division, Nuclear Engineering and Nonproliferation division, Chemistry division, and Engineering Technology and Design division.
The papers: Los Alamos scientists contributed to the following papers, and their names are provided in the full list of 67 "superior" papers (pdf).
- “EZ-Inspect: The Easy Way to Inspect Nuclear Waste Drums" (with University of Nebraska, Omaha, and University of Wisconsin, Madison)
- “From Cards to Clicks: Lessons Learned from Classroom Findings and a Digital Extension of RAD Ratings” (with University of Southampton)
- “Update on Developing Solutions for Dry Retrieval of Hanford Tank Waste Year 2: Focus on Waste Translation” (with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Savannah River National Laboratory)
- "Monitoring and Modeling Natural Erosion Near the Shallow Radioactive Waste Repository Yamin Plain Negev Israel" (with Neptune and Company Inc., Israel’s Ben Gurion University, Israel’s Nuclear Research Center-Negev, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Sandia National Laboratories)
- "Towards a Computer Vision Solution for Automated Damage Detection for Waste Storage Drums" (with University of Nebraska, Omaha)
- "Advancing Remote Radiological Surveying: Latest Performance Results from the iGART Mobile Mapping System" (with Inspection Experts Inc., Newport News Nuclear BWXT Los Alamos, NuHorizon Technologies, Trinity Engineering Associates)
Waste Management Symposia Inc. hosted the March event in Phoenix.
LA-UR-26-25205
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