During the first nuclear heatup, nuclear fuel pellets can crack.
2.
For decades they have tried to use lasers to rapidly compress nuclear fuel pellets to such high densities that their atomic nuclei fuse, releasing nuclear energy.
3.
The problems began to emerge late last year when inspection documents accompanying a shipment of nuclear fuel pellets bound for Japanese reactors were found to have been falsified.
4.
But in each case the material turned out to be what one diplomat called virtual " rubbish "-- nuclear fuel pellets being peddled as enriched uranium by petty criminals.