Non-magnetic ground state of PuO₂

In order to fully utilize the potential of nuclear power, maintaining at the minimum level the risks associated with the deployment of this technology, it is necessary to solve the problems of characterization, treatment, and disposal of high-level nuclear waste. On the time scale of several hundred years, the waste from the open fuel cycle will predominantly contain Pu and minor actinides. Their geological disposal requires a waste handling technology of exceptional durability, with highly reduced risk of accidental events. That is why the comprehensive knowledge of the physical and chemical properties of actinide-based oxides (AnO2, An = Th, U, Np, Pu, Am, Cm), which constitute the main part of the long-lived nuclear waste, remains a key topic of condensed matter theory