A Canadian lab has developed a chemical process called WATSS that can extract 90% of the long-lived radioactive material from spent nuclear fuel in 24 hours.This breakthrough, tested on real used fuel from a commercial reactor, could significantly reduce the need for permanent nuclear waste storage.

Moltex Energy Canada claims the process removes the dangerous components that require burial for 100,000 years, leaving behind material suitable for reactor fuel.While the chemistry has been validated in labs, the reactor design still awaits regulatory approval.Critics argue the method creates new byproducts, has unproven economics, and faces limitations with stockpile size.

However, similar initiatives exist globally, such as Switzerland's Transmutex project using particle accelerators and Denmark's thorium molten-salt reactor.

The technology represents a potential shift from long-term waste storage to sustainable fuel reuse, though challenges remain in scaling and implementation.