Nuclear Energy Without the Waste

With the opening of the National Ignition Facility in California yesterday, scientists will now be able to utilize the world’s most powerful laser to create fusion reactions which will afford them greater insight into the nature of planets and stars, but the more practical applications of this technology are what have people really excited. Fusion used in combination with fission – the current process at work in nuclear reactors – has the potential to revolutionize the safety – this model separates neutrons from fuel eliminating the fear of meltdowns -and efficiency – the energy generated from both reactions can increase output by 20 times – of nuclear energy, approaching a truly sustainable fuel source. This hybrid concept also solves the problem of nuclear waste and can even use up preexisting stores, the Telegraph reports:

In nuclear fission, the cascade of neutrons eventually becomes too weak for the fuel to be a viable energy source. The waste, however, continues to undergo radioactive decay, remaining highly dangerous.

Yet by using a separate source of neutrons – taken from the fusion reaction – the fuel can be burned up almost completely. The NIF claims that spent nuclear fuel, and even weapons-grade plutonium, could be put into the fission blanket and used up over a 50-year period in a highly controllable way.

“The beauty of it is that we can put in anything that will burn up,” explains Dr Wisoff. “It will essentially allow us to use the spent fuel left behind by traditional nuclear fission. It really could help us clean up the world.”

Telegraph: The nuclear reactor that could clean up