Future nuclear fuel cycles will benefit from innovations in waste immobilisation technology allowing optimised waste management strategies to be deployed. Hot isostatic pressing (HIP) has the potential to be central to these novel immobilisation technologies because of its ability to consolidate a wide variety of wastes into durable wasteforms. HIP is currently being developed by the National Nuclear Laboratory for the immobilisation of plutonium containing wastes and residues, but its flexibility as a process makes it ideal for future fuel cycles. (C) 2012 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.