TOKYO -- Experts in Japan hope nuclear transmutation -- a technology which can be used to turn radioactive nuclear waste to safer substances -- can help decommission the still-leaking Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power But there is a catch, the scientific method requires a large-scale system.

To remove the obstacle of size, a team of researchers from Tohoku University and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are seeking to develop a more simple system for the transmutation of nuclear waste based on past studies of cold fusion.