Fissile Fuel Reprocessing Issues
Reprocessing refers to the chemical separation of fissionable uranium and plutonium from spent nuclear fuel. The recovery of uranium or plutonium could be subject to the risk of nuclear proliferation. In the United States the regulatory regime has varied dramatically in different administrations.
In the original 1971 Molten Salt Breeder Reactor proposal, uranium reprocessing was scheduled every ten days as part of reactor operation. Subsequently a once-through fueling design was proposed that limited uranium reprocessing to every thirty years at the end of useful salt life. A mixture of uranium-238 was called for to make sure recovered uranium would not be weapons grade. If reprocessing were to be prohibited then the uranium would be disposed with other fission products.
Read more about this topic: Beryllium Moderated Reactors
Famous quotes containing the words fuel and/or issues:
“Beware the/easy griefs, that fool and fuel nothing./It is too easy to cry “AFRIKA!”/and shock thy street,/and purse thy mouth,/and go home to thy “Gunsmoke,” to/thy “Gilligan’s Island” and the NFL.”
—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)
“The “universal moments” of child rearing are in fact nothing less than a confrontation with the most basic problems of living in society: a facing through one’s children of all the conflicts inherent in human relationships, a clarification of issues that were unresolved in one’s own growing up. The experience of child rearing not only can strengthen one as an individual but also presents the opportunity to shape human relationships of the future.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)