RELATED VIDEO CNN's Marsha Walton reports on mercury pollution Windows Media 28K 56K

UPTON, New York (CNN) -- The Department of Energy has problems by the barrel -- huge stockpiles of barrels, in fact, containing toxic waste from nuclear research and weapons production. But one of the agency's laboratories has found a way to contain the material in a form that's less toxic and less likely to return to the environment.

At Brookhaven Labs, officials are converting soil that's been contaminated with highly toxic mercury and radiation into a brick-like form.

The soil is mixed with a sulfur-polymer material, which bonds when heated, creating a type of cement.

"The radioactivity doesn't go away," says Paul Kalb of Brookhaven National Labs. "But the idea is basically to fix the material in a solid block so that the radionuclides are kept in place."

Brookhaven scientists say nuclear power plants and other industries that generate hazardous wastes could soon begin using the new technology.

CNN's Marsha Walton has the full story.