Although nuclear fission, which powers nuclear reactors, can provide plenty of energy, it also produces potentially dangerous radioactive waste as a by-product.
Now, researchers say they may have found a way to use that waste to help produce a cleaner nuclear energy.
Nuclear fusion – the process by which atomic nuclei are combined into heavier elements to generate energy – has the potential to provide “vast energy supplies” while releasing minimal greenhouse gas emissions, according to the American Chemical Society (ACS).
But commercial fusion, which is in the early stages of development, requires a very rare, very expensive form of hydrogen known as tritium.
