Zapping Nuclear waste with extreme laser

[ArcticDude]

Zapping Nuclear Waste in Minutes

"Gerard Mourou—one of the three winners of the 2018 Nobel Prize for Physics— claims that the lifespan of radioactive waste could potentially be cut to minutes from thousands of years. Although Mourou, 74, is quick to say that the laser option for nuclear waste that he and Irvine, California-based Professor Toshiki Tajima are working on may be years away, its promise has created a flurry of excitement for the sector in France."

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2019-nuclear-waste-storage-france/

 

[CurtisOliver]

Thanks for sharing, this could be a massive breakthrough. I just hope it doesn't get used as an excuse to continue using fission rather than strive for fusion.

 

[ArcticDude]

Thanks for sharing, this could be a massive breakthrough. I just hope it doesn't get used as an excuse to continue using fission rather than strive for fusion.

Yep, definitely looking for Tokamak reactor to complete in France

 

[CurtisOliver]

Same, well that goes for anywhere, not just France.

 

[paul1598419]

IIDK, it seems that changing the number of protons and neutrons in every atom of atomic waste with lasers is truly a very long way off, especially at the levels of waste that would need transmutation. It is never bad to dream, but I do agree that burying it is a very bad idea.

 

[barthchris]

I still think the placement into a subduction zone idea has merit. By the time any burps up in a volcano it will be extremely dilute and or been long past the halflife of even the longest of the radionuclides. Plus, will earth even be habitable to anything recognizable by us?