Vitrification – the process of making glass – is used to immobilise nuclear waste and also happens naturally in the earth. Laura talks to Tracey Taylor from the UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory about the glass making process and to Brian O’Driscoll, a geologist from the University of Ottawa in Canada, about natural glass and why researching this material is so important.

Heart of Glass is an exhibition at Florence Arts Centre in Egremont, West Cumbria, UK. The exhibition is on 24th March to 30th June and features images taken at a microscopic scale of nuclear waste glass.

The exhibition is supported by The University of Manchester and involves The BEAM nuclear and social research network.