Nuclear fuel reprocessing

Nuclear reprocessing technology was developed to chemically separate and recover fissionable plutonium from spent nuclear fuel. Originally, reprocessing was used solely to extract plutonium for producing nuclear weapons. With commercialization of nuclear power, the reprocessed plutonium was recycled back into MOX nuclear fuel for thermal reactors. The reprocessed uranium, also known as the spent fuel material, can in principle also be re-used as fuel, but that is only economical when uranium supply is low and prices are high. A breeder reactor is not restricted to using recycled plutonium and uranium. It can employ all the actinides, closing the nuclear fuel cycle and potentially multiplying the energy extracted from natural uranium by about 60 times.

Nuclear reprocessing does not reduce the volume of high-level waste, it separates out the useful isotopes leaving an increased volume of liquid high-level waste as a result of the solution-based chemical processes used to dissolve fuel rods and extract useful isotopes. It does reduce total radioactivity of the total waste, however the overall volume of the waste is higher and it does not eliminate waste nor heat generation and therefore does not eliminate the need for a geological waste repository. Reprocessing has been politically controversial because of the potential to contribute to nuclear proliferation, the potential vulnerability to nuclear terrorism, the political challenges of repository siting (a problem that applies equally to direct disposal of spent fuel), the environmental risks of the aqueous and organic waste streams, and because of its high cost compared to the once-through fuel cycle. In the United States, the Obama administration stepped back from President Bush's plans for commercial-scale reprocessing and reverted to a program focused on reprocessing-related scientific research. Nuclear fuel reprocessing is performed routinely in Europe, Russia and Japan.

The potentially useful components dealt with in nuclear reprocessing comprise specific actinides (plutonium, uranium, and some minor actinides). The lighter elements components include fission products, activation products, and cladding.

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