Reply #2: It's not incredibly significant right now, but it does represent progress.

[NNadir]

In the United States, we currently have a policy of "once through" use of uranium, which is consistent with our "waste" mentality. Our current policies mean that this work will have little commercial application immediately.

Many other countries recycle their spent nuclear fuel to recover valuable materials, including more fuel. The process does involve some risk, risks that not comparable to global climate change or to air pollution, but risks that are nevertheless greater than zero. This process helps lower that small risk further.

The environmental standards to which nuclear energy is held are far more rigorous than the standards to which other energy industries are held on a risk/benefit basis. This is not necessarily a bad thing: Because of the high energy density of nuclear materials, it is possible to meet higher standards.

The encouraging thing about this academic work is first that it took place in the United States and second that it is recent work.