Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the US state of New Mexico have unveiled simulations showing how radioactive nuclear waste could be repurposed to generate tritium, the rare hydrogen isotope that fuels nuclear fusion.
Terence Tarnowsky, a physicist at Los Almos, will present his findings at the American Chemical Society’s autumn 2025 meeting. His research suggests that decades of stored waste might help unlock a cleaner, virtually limitless energy.
Nuclear fusion that uses the isotopes deuterium and tritium as fuel is seen as a promising pathway for generating energy, mainly because it requires lower energy input compared to other fusion reactions.