Recently, a visual presentation of the MSU Diagnostic Instrumentation and Analysis Laboratory was featured at the nation's Capitol. It was among four university research programs included in the United States Department of Energy's "Strength Through Science" exhibit for members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

"The purpose of the exhibit at the Rayburn House Office Building was to inform members of Congress and their staffs about how science and technology are making a major difference in DOE's environmental cleanup program," said DIAL director John Plodinec. "Our presentation spotlighted Mississippi State's role in cleanup efforts at the Hanford site in Washington state."

Hanford is a 560 square-mile area along the Columbia River established by the federal government in 1943 to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons.

Plodinec said DIAL research scientist Jeff Linder and Rebecca Toghiani, an associate professor of chemical engineering, currently are providing guidance on the safe retrieval and transfer of high-level nuclear waste in tanks stored at the site.

"In addition to their input on major waste retrieval and transfer decisions at Hanford, Jeff and Rebecca have expanded the fundamental knowledge base on waste chemistry," he added.

The DIAL exhibit in Washington, D.C., also included DrumThunker, a patented technology for determining the pressure inside waste drums.

"During the past decade, there have been almost 100 accidents involving pressurized drums," Plodinec said. "Once commercialized, DIAL's simple, handheld DrumThunker should eliminate the hazards of unintentionally opening drums of waste that have built up pressure inside."