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Recycling Options for Used Nuclear Fuel

8/12/2014

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By Lenka Kollar

While many in the United States might spend some time thinking of the many options for recycling household goods or food waste, few focus on the many reusable options that are available for used nuclear fuel. 

The concerns with recycling used fuel include nonproliferation issues, cost, waste management requirements, and time factors related to radioactive decay, as expressed by Emory Collins from Oak Ridge National Laboratory at a gathering of the American Nuclear Society. However, Collins says that many of these issues can be addressed. “Engineered safeguards and safeguards-by-design can be used to provide adequate proliferation resistance and ensure nonproliferation security,” said Collins. “The cost to implement fuel recycle will be an insignificant change to the cost of nuclear electricity.” 

Currently in the United States, nuclear fuel assemblies are used in a commercial reactor for about three years until they are removed and safely stored. The current plan in the U.S. is to dispose of this used fuel in a permanent geological repository. However, up to 95% of the used fuel can be recycled and used again as fuel in a reactor. Other countries, such as France, are actively recycling their fuel to “close” the nuclear fuel cycle. 

Sven Bader of AREVA Federal Services made the case that uranium is a valuable nuclear material and that “its recovery and recycling saves natural resources.” AREVA is a French-based company that manages the recycling of used fuel in France and also provides the service for other European countries. While the technology is robust, Bader admits that without building new reactors in the US, there is a lack of justification for reprocessing because the economics do not add up.
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Radioactive Waste Management Facts

4/24/2014

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By Lenka Kollar

As a follow on to the meme that I posted last week for #Atoms4Earth, here's some more facts about radioactive waste that you should know. People often question "the waste problem" when talking about expanding nuclear energy. The reality is that nuclear power takes care of all of its waste, unlike coal and natural gas, which release much of their waste to the atmosphere. The amount of waste for nuclear is also much smaller than you think because reactors are only refueled once every 18 months on average.
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Here's some great facts from the World Nuclear Association:

  • Nuclear power is the only large-scale energy-producing technology which takes full responsibility for all its wastes and fully costs this into the product.
  • The amount of radioactive wastes is very small relative to wastes produced by fossil fuel electricity generation.
  • Used nuclear fuel may be treated as a resource or simply as a waste.
  • Nuclear wastes are neither particularly hazardous nor hard to manage relative to other toxic industrial wastes.
  • Safe methods for the final disposal of high-level radioactive waste are technically proven; the international consensus is that this should be geological disposal.

What questions do you have about radioactive waste?
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The Nuclear Energy Fuel Cycle

1/8/2014

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Have you ever wondered how uranium gets from the ground to a reactor to make electricity for your home? Watch the prezi below to find out!
Click here for full size version.
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Photos used under Creative Commons from Idaho National Laboratory, Jim.Richmond, Idaho National Laboratory, IAEA Imagebank