Kaelee Novich and Samuel Pedersen, two graduate students in the Advanced Materials Laboratory, recently published their work on adding boron to cast aluminum. Spent nuclear fuel is currently cooled in pools for 10-20 years before being moved to “dry storage” in casks. In a collaboration with the University of Idaho and Sakae Casting, Kaelee and Sam studied methods to add boron to aluminum casks. Boron absorbs neutrons and provides corrosion resistance, meaning spent fuel can be moved out of pools and into dry storage earlier.
You can read more about their work in this post by Boise State University, and read the full publication here.