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Los Alamos scientists turn nuclear waste into fusion reactor fuel


Los Alamos scientists are exploring how nuclear waste could be transformed into tritium fuel, offering a breakthrough fusion energy

But while fusion offers the allure of abundant power with little radioactive waste, it faces a major obstacle: the scarcity of tritium, a rare hydrogen isotope that serves as its critical fuel. One promising option involves enclosing nuclear waste in molten lithium salt, which acts as both a coolant and a safeguard against weapons-grade material extraction. If successful, the approach could solve two problems simultaneously: reducing the burden of nuclear waste storage and supplying the fuel needed to make fusion a viable power source.

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