New nuclear institute fosters collaborations in advanced materials research

Awesome! and note that the collaboration is also with colleagues from Atomic Energy of Canada’s Chalk River Laboratories: New nuclear institute fosters collaborations in advanced materials research: http://news.thinksask.ca/2012/03/new-nuclear-institute-fosters-collaborations-in-advanced-materials-research/ "Most people are familiar with cubic zirconia as a more economical alternative to diamonds in jewelry, but for University of Saskatchewan researcher Andrew Grosvenor, the interest lies in its remarkable properties beyond its ability to sparkle.
Cubic zirconium is hard, durable, resists corrosion, and has a high melting point – more than 2,750 degrees Celsius. These qualities make it ideal for use in nuclear reactors or to sequester nuclear waste products.
“This material has a large number of current and potential applications,” Grosvenor says. “In this case, it could be used to store radioactive waste elements or to act as a host for neutron absorbers, which would be placed in a nuclear reactor.”
Grosvenor, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Saskatchewan, is exploring cross-country collaboration with colleagues from Atomic Energy of Canada’s Chalk River Laboratories to look at ways of combining zirconium with other elements to create new materials with a range of uses."