Scientists in the United States are developing a method to recycle nuclear waste to make tritium – a rare version of hydrogen which serves as one of the main fuels in nuclear fusion.
Nuclear fusion is a process that fuses two atoms together to release heat which can turn generators. The generators will ensure a supply of large amounts of electricity that is almost emission-free. Therefore, in theory, it is thought to be one of the cleanest forms of energy.
The nuclear fusion process, which provides power to the stars in the universe, on the other hand, would result in very little radioactive waste being produced at the end.
The process would require the fusion of deuterium and tritium. While the former is readily available, the US currently has a shortage of tritium.
“Right now, the value of commercial tritium is about $15 million per pound [$33 million per kilogram], and the U.S. doesn’t have any domestic capability to create it,” says Terence Tarnowsky, a physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).
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