Tricky element isolated from spent nuclear fuel

New strategy for extracting americium could pave way for recycling hazardous waste

nuclear plant

WASTE BUILDUP  U.S. nuclear power plants, including the Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station in Newport, Mich., store their waste. Eventually engineers may make used fuel safer in part by extracting the radioactive element americium.

James Marvin Phelps/Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

An electrical kick is all it takes to isolate one hazardous element from the rest of a nuclear power plant’s toxic waste.