--- title: Recycling Radioactive Fuel: A Possibility With the Element Californium description: A study shows unique properties — and opportunities — of californium to bond with and separate materials and to endure extremes of radiation canonical: https://time.com/35167/rare-element-californium-recycle-radioactive-fuel/ author: Per Liljas article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-24T07:41:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T06:55:15.323Z article:section: Science og:title: Recycling Radioactive Fuel: A Possibility With the Element Californium og:description: A study shows unique properties — and opportunities — of californium to bond with and separate materials and to endure extremes of radiation og:url: https://time.com/35167/rare-element-californium-recycle-radioactive-fuel/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43867477470c2ff8/698686e23bc999c4e11a283c/476632661.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 476632661 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Recycling Radioactive Fuel: A Possibility With the Element Californium twitter:description: A study shows unique properties — and opportunities — of californium to bond with and separate materials and to endure extremes of radiation twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43867477470c2ff8/698686e23bc999c4e11a283c/476632661.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # It's Outrageously Expensive, but This Element Could Be Used to Recycle Radioactive Fuel One Day by [Per Liljas](https://time.com/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas Mar 24, 2014 7:41 AM UTC  A tank containing radioactive water is seen at the Asse nuclear-waste-storage facility in Remlingen, Germany, on March 4, 2014 A tank containing radioactive water is seen at the Asse nuclear-waste-storage facility in Remlingen, Germany, on March 4, 2014Jochen Luebke—AFP/Getty Images by [Per Liljas](https://time.com/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas Mar 24, 2014 7:41 AM UTC Research on a little-known element called californium may open up completely new opportunities to store radioactive waste and recycle radioactive fuel. The team behind the study, published in the current edition of _Nature Chemistry_, found that californium had an extraordinary capability to bond with and separate other materials. It also has an extreme resistance to radiation damage. “It sounds almost too good to be true,” says professor Thomas Albrecht-Schmitt, who led the Florida State University–based experiments, and refers to the element as “wicked stuff.” This groundbreaking work does not only shed light on a fringe element of the periodic table, it may also help scientists develop new storage containers for radioactive waste and to separate radioactive fuel, which means it could be recycled. “It’s not purely an academic practice,” said Albrecht-Schmitt. “This has real-world application.” The snag? It requires a ton of cash. The 5 mg of californium used in Albrecht-Schmitt’s research cost a whopping $1.4 million to obtain, and required years of work with the U.S. Department of Energy. \[[Phys.org](http://phys.org/news/2014-03-element-californium-ballgame-radioactive.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/35167/rare-element-californium-recycle-radioactive-fuel/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/35167/rare-element-californium-recycle-radioactive-fuel/"},"headline":"It's Outrageously Expensive, but This Element Could Be Used to Recycle Radioactive Fuel One Day","datePublished":"2014-03-24T07:41:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:55:15.323Z","description":"A few milligrams costs a fortune, but californium shows fascinating potential nonetheless","url":"https://time.com/35167/rare-element-californium-recycle-radioactive-fuel/","keywords":["recycling","Discovery"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43867477470c2ff8/698686e23bc999c4e11a283c/476632661.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Per Liljas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/per-liljas/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43867477470c2ff8/698686e23bc999c4e11a283c/476632661.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"476632661","caption":"A tank containing radioactive water is seen at the Asse nuclear-waste-storage facility in Remlingen, Germany, on March 4, 2014","creditText":"Jochen Luebke—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/recycling/","name":"recycling"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/35167/rare-element-californium-recycle-radioactive-fuel/","name":"It's Outrageously Expensive, but This Element Could Be Used to Recycle Radioactive Fuel One Day"}}]}] ```