I'd Like To Buy A Vowel...

The answer to the nuclear conundrum that lies at the heart of California's moratorum on new nuclear power facilities, could be found in a single vowel.

Commercial nuclear reactors rely on nuclear fIssion, which produces the nuclear waste that we have no place to keep, but nuclear fUsion could not only generate power but eliminate nuclear waste.

This is a perfect solution in theory only because, to date, achieving nuclear fusion-- basically the same reaction that takes place within the sun or within a thermonuclear weapon-- has been impossible. However, with the unveiling of the new super laser at the National Ignition Factility, Discovery Magazine speculates that nuclear fusion, just might be possible, and it might be the solution to eliminating nuclear waste.

According to Discovery:

"In a fusion-fission hybrid reactor proposal suggested by NIF researchers, a fusion chamber would be surrounded by a blanket of fissionable material, like nuclear waste, that would serve as an additional fuel source…. It would work by using the neutrons from fusion to help turn nuclear waste into nuclear fuel and then burn it until almost none is left..."

Could a New Generation of Power Plants Turn Nuclear Waste Into Clean Fuel? [Discover Magazine]