Dive Brief:

• Researchers at the University of Sheffield in the UK have found a method to convert plutonium into a stable end product.
  By mixing waste which contained plutonium with blast furnace slag, the material is transformed into glass, which reduces it volume by 85% to 95% and renders it stable.
  If the size of the plutonium can be reduced, costs of storing the waste will also diminish, with the additional benefit of having the volatile nuclear waste stabilized.

Dive Insight:

According to Science Daily, lead researcher, Professor Neil Hyatt Hyatt says, "If we can reduce the volume of waste that eventually needs to be stored and buried underground, we can reduce the costs considerably. At the same time, our process can stabilise the plutonium in a more corrosion resistant material, so this should improve the safety case and public acceptability of geological disposal." Professor Hyatt is improving the vitrification procedure in order to produce a full-scale demonstration of these findings. This approach could potentially be used in the clean-up efforts at the Fukushima plant.