Chemists in the UK say they have found a new use for depleted uranium – a waste product of nuclear power – by transforming it into a versatile compound which could be used to create valuable commodity chemicals and new energy sources.In a paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, researchers at the University of Sussex have revealed that by using a catalyst which contains depleted uranium, they have managed to convert ethylene (an alkene used to make plastic) into ethane (an alkane used to produce a number of other compounds including ethanol).