Japan looks to salvage rare earths using nuclear reprocessing tech

MaterialsNew technology promises to recover strategic materials from industrial wasteThe absorbent, shown here, can chemically remove rare-earth elements from liquids. (Japan Atomic Energy Agency)MOMOKO IMAMURAAugust 26, 2026 05:01 JSTTOKYO -- The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) and others have developed technology that can extract rare-earth elements from water and oil, Nikkei has learned, raising the possibility that the valuable materials could be recovered from industrial wastewater.