Editing Nuclear power (section)

=== Reprocessing ===
{{main|Nuclear reprocessing}}
{{see also|Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement}}

Most [[thermal-neutron reactor]]s run on a [[once-through nuclear fuel cycle]], mainly due to the low price of fresh uranium. However, many reactors are also fueled with recycled fissionable materials that remain in spent nuclear fuel. The most common fissionable material that is recycled is the [[reactor-grade plutonium]] (RGPu) that is extracted from spent fuel. It is mixed with uranium oxide and fabricated into mixed-oxide or [[MOX fuel]]. Because thermal LWRs remain the most common reactor worldwide, this type of recycling is the most common. It is considered to increase the sustainability of the nuclear fuel cycle, reduce the attractiveness of spent fuel to theft, and lower the volume of high level nuclear waste.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.energy.2014.02.069|title=Assessment of the environmental footprint of nuclear energy systems. Comparison between closed and open fuel cycles|journal=Energy|volume=69|pages=199–211|date=May 2014|last1=Poinssot|first1=Ch.|last2=Bourg|first2=S.|last3=Ouvrier|first3=N.|last4=Combernoux|first4=N.|last5=Rostaing|first5=C.|last6=Vargas-Gonzalez|first6=M.|last7=Bruno|first7=J.|doi-access=free|bibcode=2014Ene....69..199P }}</ref> Spent MOX fuel cannot generally be recycled for use in thermal-neutron reactors. This issue does not affect [[fast-neutron reactor]]s, which are therefore preferred in order to achieve the full energy potential of the original uranium.<ref name="berrytoll" /><ref name="IEEE Spectrum">{{cite news|last1=Fairley|first1=Peter|title=Nuclear Wasteland|url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/feb07/4891|work=IEEE Spectrum|date=February 2007|access-date=2020-02-02|archive-date=2020-08-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805214749/https://spectrum.ieee.org/feb07/4891|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The main constituent of spent fuel from LWRs is slightly [[enriched uranium]]. This can be recycled into [[reprocessed uranium]] (RepU), which can be used in a fast reactor, used directly as fuel in [[CANDU]] reactors, or re-enriched for another cycle through an LWR. Re-enriching of reprocessed uranium is common in France and Russia.<ref name="WNA3">{{cite web |url=http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/fuel-recycling/processing-of-used-nuclear-fuel.aspx |title=Processing of Used Nuclear Fuel |date=2018 |publisher=World Nuclear Association |access-date=2018-12-26 |archive-date=2018-12-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225154511/http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/fuel-recycling/processing-of-used-nuclear-fuel.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> Reprocessed uranium is also safer in terms of nuclear proliferation potential.<ref>{{cite tech report|url=https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6743129-proliferation-resistant-nuclear-fuel-cycles-spiking-plutonium-sup-pu|title=Proliferation-resistant nuclear fuel cycles. [Spiking of plutonium with /sup 238/Pu]|publisher=Oak Ridge National Laboratory|year=1978|doi=10.2172/6743129|osti=6743129|last1=Campbell|first1=D. O.|last2=Gift|first2=E. H.|via=Office of Scientific and Technical Information}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fedorov |first1=M. I. |last2=Dyachenko |first2=A. I. |last3=Balagurov |first3=N. A. |last4=Artisyuk |first4=V. V. |year=2015 |title=Formation of proliferation-resistant nuclear fuel supplies based on reprocessed uranium for Russian nuclear technologies recipient countries |journal=Nuclear Energy and Technology |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=111–116 |doi=10.1016/j.nucet.2015.11.023 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2015NEneT...1..111F }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Proliferation resistant plutonium: An updated analysis|journal=Nuclear Engineering and Design|volume=330|pages=297–302|doi=10.1016/j.nucengdes.2018.02.012|year=2018|last1=Lloyd|first1=Cody|last2=Goddard|first2=Braden|bibcode=2018NuEnD.330..297L }}</ref>

Reprocessing has the potential to recover up to 95% of the uranium and plutonium fuel in spent nuclear fuel, as well as reduce long-term radioactivity within the remaining waste. However, reprocessing has been politically controversial because of the potential for [[nuclear proliferation]] and varied perceptions of increasing the vulnerability to [[nuclear terrorism]].<ref name=berrytoll/><ref name=bas2011/> Reprocessing also leads to higher fuel cost compared to the once-through fuel cycle.<ref name=berrytoll>R. Stephen Berry and George S. Tolley, [http://franke.uchicago.edu/energy2013/group6.pdf Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525170152/http://franke.uchicago.edu/energy2013/group6.pdf |date=2017-05-25 }}, The University of Chicago, 2013.</ref><ref name="bas2011">{{cite web |author=Feiveson |first=Harold |display-authors=etal |year=2011 |title=Managing nuclear spent fuel: Policy lessons from a 10-country study |url=http://www.thebulletin.org/web-edition/features/managing-nuclear-spent-fuel-policy-lessons-10-country-study |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426011518/http://www.thebulletin.org/web-edition/features/managing-nuclear-spent-fuel-policy-lessons-10-country-study |archive-date=2012-04-26 |access-date=2016-07-18 |website=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists}}</ref> While reprocessing reduces the volume of high-level waste, it does not reduce the [[fission product]]s that are the primary causes of residual heat generation and radioactivity for the first few centuries outside the reactor. Thus, reprocessed waste still requires an almost identical treatment for the initial first few hundred years.

Reprocessing of civilian fuel from power reactors is currently done in France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, and India. In the United States, spent nuclear fuel is currently not reprocessed.<ref name="WNA3" /> The [[La Hague site|La Hague reprocessing facility]] in France has operated commercially since 1976 and is responsible for half the world's reprocessing as of 2010.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kok|first=Kenneth D.|title=Nuclear Engineering Handbook|year=2010|publisher=CRC Press|page=332|isbn=978-1-4200-5391-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EMy2OyUrqbUC&pg=PA332}}</ref> It produces MOX fuel from spent fuel derived from several countries. More than 32,000 tonnes of spent fuel had been reprocessed as of 2015, with the majority from France, 17% from Germany, and 9% from Japan.<ref>{{cite news |author=Jarry |first=Emmanuel |date=6 May 2015 |title=Crisis for Areva's plant as clients shun nuclear |url=http://www.mineweb.com/news/energy/crisis-for-arevas-plant-as-clients-shun-nuclear/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723193237/http://www.mineweb.com/news/energy/crisis-for-arevas-plant-as-clients-shun-nuclear/ |archive-date=23 July 2015 |access-date=6 May 2015 |newspaper=Moneyweb |agency=Reuters}}</ref>