nuclear-news

Nuclear waste reprocessing problems

Digging up the dirt on uranium – The National Newspaper Tamsin Carlisle,  February 20. 2010 “……Reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods to extract more of their energy potential is another option but is expensive and intensely controversial. A handful of countries, notably France, already do this, but the US has eschewed reprocessing since the 1970s over concerns that it could encourage nuclear arms proliferation.
The main worry is that plutonium is among the radioactive decay products in spent fuel rods and could be extracted to build bombs. Plutonium is also a component of “mixed oxide” fuel for so-called breeder reactors, which continuously recycle fuel and are many times more efficient than commercial nuclear reactors that use a once-through fuel system.
The French nuclear fuel reprocessing facility at La Hague, however, is guarded by anti-aircraft missiles due to security concerns – a measure that significantly increases the cost of reprocessed fuel, making it uncompetitive with fuel made from mined uranium.

February 22, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | France | cancer, fast breeder, France, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, reprocessing