Yeast could help alleviate the United States’ massive radioactive waste problem. A new article in Popular Science explores the new strategy of sticking yeast on the radioactive waste left behind by nuclear development during the Cold War. The goal is to trap the waste, as radioactive waste takes thousands of years to decay. What separates yeast from other single-celled microorganisms scientists have researched is it could potentially contain the waste while withstanding the heat generated by the waste. At the site of the assembly of the first atomic bombs in southeastern Washington, where the problem is most pressing, yeast could help prevent waste from contaminating the Columbia River.
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