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The process of producing power via nuclear energy creates radioactive nuclear waste as a by-product, which is then stored in sealed containers for hundreds and thousands of years. As no technology can nullify the harmful effect yet, possible spillages are raising concerns globally. But now, two leading laser technology companies – Light Conversion and Ekspla – in a bid to address this concern – have developed a laser that could solve the nuclear waste management problem.

The jointly produced laser, called SYLOS, is a high-intensity ultra-short pulse laser that has been dubbed as being the most powerful among the fastest and the fastest among the most powerful. The initial idea that lasers of this kind could potentially solve the nuclear waste disposal problem was raised by Gérard Mourou, the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018. The peak power of SYLOS exceeds the power of a nuclear plant by thousands of times, and impulses of this kind can be applied both to research and to nullify the impact of nuclear waste.

Currently, the disposal of nuclear waste is comprised of either storing the waste in containers on above-surface level or burying them underground, depending on the decay period of the radioactive material. This method is raising safety concerns, as some of the waste is disposed not too far from densely populated areas, and highly radioactive waste has to be safely stored for up to tens of thousands of years.

The SYLOS high-density ultra-short pulse laser system might become a much-needed solution. If the process of nuclear waste decomposition is accelerated by a laser of this kind, the decay period can be cut short to seconds, hours, or months, depending on the material. However, several challenges are yet to be met before laser systems like SYLOS could be applied on an industrial scale, according to Darius Gadonas, Head of the Scientific Laser Systems Division at Light Conversion, a Vilnius-based co-developer of the laser.

According to him, although they do believe that lasers like SYLOS can be adapted to solve the nuclear waste issue globally without leaving it for future generations to deal with; but how soon this could be achieved will depend on the political will of governments, since lasers and infrastructure of this kind could cost up to billions of euros per unit.