Alumna blazing trail in nuclear waste remediation research

[Marlin]

https://news.fiu.edu/2026/alumna-blazing-trail-in-nuclear-waste-remediation-research

[News Wire]

Mellissa Komninakis, a researcher at Florida International University, has developed new empirical data on the effectiveness of fixative coatings used during nuclear waste remediation. Her work quantifies how these surface treatments perform under fire, mechanical stress, and seismic activity to prevent the release of radioactive particles during facility dismantling.

This research addresses a long-standing challenge for the Department of Energy as it manages legacy waste from the Manhattan Project. By establishing standardized measures for airborne release fractions, these findings provide technical guidance for field operations. The study offers a framework for improving worker safety and environmental protection during the decommissioning of aging nuclear infrastructure.

She's helping clean up from World War II.

Armed with a doctorate in materials science engineering from FIU, Mellissa Komninakis is focusing her career on confronting a problem that predates her by decades.

Radioactive waste and contamination, like that created during the Manhattan Project's launch of the world's first nuclear weapons program in 1942, is scattered across dozens of production and research facilities across the U.S. and requires complex and safe remediation.

Read the full article at Florida International University:
https://news.fiu.edu/2026/alumna-blazing-trail-in-nuclear-waste-remediation-research