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During the Second World
War the US military found a way of extracting plutonium from the
spent reactor fuel, for use in nuclear weapons and advanced mixed-oxide
reactors. This can only be achieved by dissolving the fuel in
nitric acid, creating large volumes of dangerous liquid
wastes. Some of these materials are classified as 'self boiling':
the heat they generate from internal radioactivity is enough to
keep them perpetually boiling over.
The reprocessing stage
is where the military aspects of the nuclear fuel chain are most
apparent. The plutonium thus extracted is suitable for nuclear
weapons.
So much has been separated that there are now plans to
expand the use of mixed uranium/plutonium oxide, or MOX fuel in
nuclear reactors - just to get rid of the plutonium, which is
rightly seen as a proliferation
risk.
Reprocessing is the
link of the nuclear chain which is perhaps the weakest.
Only France
(La Hague, operated by Cogema) and the UK (at Sellafield, run
by BNFL) operate commercial reprocessing plants any more, and
both facilities run at a heavy loss while generating staggering
amounts of radioactive waste.
Mounting pressure from neighbouring
european countries for the reprocessing plants to close unless
they can achieve the impossible task of zero radiation emissions.
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