[samuel_adams_us]

Actually it might be possible, LASER does stand for Light Amplified Serial Emitted Radiation and using the charge from one form of radiation against another is exactly how we ended up with nuclear power in the first place, the discharge of radiation and energy.

[ChewedGum]

Sounds too good to be true, but I will wait for more information before I make a judgement.

Would it be possible for the energy in the coherent light beam to have that kind of effect on the radioactive material? I'm thinking they mean it excites the material so it's half life decreases so much that it burns itself out very quickly. Any other ideas out there?

Gum

[thulldud]

These fellows have been working on this for some years. They have a way of spreading a laser pulse out and reconcentrating it into a very short blast of tremendous power--enough to affect atomic nuclei. They can already kick U-238 into fission with lasers, so why not try it on radwaste?

Relevant article here.

[3Lean]

"Actually it might be possible, LASER does stand for Light Amplified Serial Emitted Radiation and using the charge from one form of radiation against another is exactly how we ended up with nuclear power in the first place, the discharge of radiation and energy. "

That sounds scientific, but what on earth do you mean? The radiation emitted from a laser is light (generally UV or visible). The radiation emitted from nuclear waste is at totally different levels (gamma rays) or made up of particles (alpha rays).
The radiation (light) from the laser isn't used to "neutralize" the radiation nor is it being used to stop the emission. I suspect the opposite, the nucleus is excited to the point that the probability of it's splitting is much higher than normal, resulting in a mass emission, followed by inertness. If this is the case I'm not sure I'd like to be around when they "neutralize" a big pile of waste as the ambient radiation might get a bit dangerous as you stimulate 10,000 years worth of emission in one hour.

[FreeMe2]

LASER - Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

[webheart]

...LASER does stand for Light Amplified Serial Emitted Radiation...

Sorry to have to correct you, but the "s" in laser stands for stimulated, not serial. The light is emitted by stimulating some substance, and is coheherent, meaning that all the waves are synchronized. Don't know that this has any effect on your point, just want to keep things factual. Thanks.

[BiffWondercat]

I think your mixing your Photons and Neutrons.