Scientists have claimed that Californium is the element that could bring revolution in the way radioactive storage is carried out. The element has been touted to allow recycling of radioactive waste into fuel one day.

Californium was discovered in the 1950s. Safe disposal of radioactive waste has been the biggest obstacle in the way of effective use of nuclear power facilities. And it is feared that the problem can persist for longer than human civilization has existed so far.

The task of storing nuclear waste is not an easy one as it requires sealing the material in airtight steel or concrete containers to help it slowly breakdown into less dangerous isotopes. This process of decaying does not complete in quick time, but takes tens of thousands of years and there is always a risk of something going wrong during that time.

But researchers have found that californium was extremely resistant to radiation damage and has the ability to bind and spate other materials. Besides, it even changes the structure of the materials stored within it.

The new study, published in the journal Nature Chemistry, said that the ability of californium to separate different elements in nuclear waste can play a vital role in recycling the fuel byproduct in order to reuse it as fuel in power plants.

"This has real-world application. It's not purely an academic practice. We are changing how people look at californium and how it can be used", said Albrecht-Schmitt, a Professor at Florida State University and lead author of the study.

Californium, first created in 1950 by bombarding curium with alpha particles at the University of California, Berkeley, is often used as a source of neutrons, having the potential of producing 170 million neutrons per minute by using just one microgram of californium-252.

Atomic number of californium is 98 and symbol is Cf. The element could help in making new, safer storage containers for radioactive waste.