Nuclear waste as a resource for the energy transition
Nuclear waste is seen as a burden for future generations, but researchers are now discovering an opportunity. Radioactive waste could help to produce the urgently needed fuel tritium for nuclear fusion. This brings closer a technology that could supply enormous amounts of energy and give a decisive boost to the energy transition.
Nuclear power polarizes! While some countries are phasing it out, elsewhere it remains a central pillar of the energy supply. However, they all have one problem in common – radioactive waste. Thousands of tons of highly radioactive materials are already stored around the world and their safe storage costs billions. Now, however, an idea is coming to the fore that could turn this waste into a valuable raw material.
Tritium is the key to nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is seen as the beacon of hope for the future of energy. In contrast to nuclear fission, it does not rely on decay, but on the fusion of atomic nuclei. Similar to the sun. Using deuterium and tritium as fuel, huge amounts of energy can be generated with virtually no climate-damaging emissions and significantly less waste. While deuterium is readily available, tritium remains extremely scarce. Only around 25 kilograms currently exist worldwide, too little for widespread use in energy production.
Nuclear waste as a source for the fuel of the future
This is where Terence Tarnowsky’s research at Los Alamos National Laboratory comes in. Radioactive waste from existing nuclear power plants could be used to produce relevant quantities of tritium. This would address two challenges at the same time. The safe and expensive storage of nuclear waste and the availability of the missing fuel for future fusion power plants. The market price for tritium is currently around 15 million dollars per pound, a clear indication of its scarcity and value.
Opportunities for the energy transition
The vision is clear. If waste becomes a fuel of the future, the cards in global energy policy could be reshuffled. Fusion power plants fueled by tritium from recycled nuclear waste could provide enormous amounts of energy in a climate-neutral and safe way. This would be a milestone for the energy transition, which could secure the growing demand for electricity from electromobility, the heating transition and digitalization in the long term.
Research at the turning point
The path to large-scale use is still open. Technical, economic and security policy issues need to be clarified. However, the direction shows how science and technology can transform seemingly contaminated sites into opportunities for the future. Nuclear waste, of all things, a symbol of unresolved energy problems, could thus become a mainstay of the energy transition.