Michael Kanellos 11 16 09, 1:42 PM

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U.S., Japan to Cooperate on Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Research: WSJ

The U.S. and Japan will begin to cooperate on "advanced fuel cycle technologies" for nuclear plants, or reprocessing nuclear waste, according to the Environmental Capital blog on the Wall Street Journal.

Reprocessing helps get rid of nuclear waste, which is why both France and Japan have been big advocates. But it also means generating and moving around quantities of plutonium. If captured, that plutonium could be used for a dirty bomb. The U.S. killed a reprocessing plan, which only enjoyed lukewarm support, in the '70s. The collaboration is a sign that the Department of Energy will take another serious look at reprocessing Yucca Mountain, after all, isn't going anywhere soon.

If fusion works, it could also help reprocess nuclear waste. Lawrence Livermore National Labs has promoted the idea of fusion reactors. In these, spare neutrons from fusion reactions are channelled into a blanket of nuclear waste from fission power plants to cause more fission reactions. Ideally, this would generate power from fission without running the risk of chain reactions.