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Nuking Nuclear Waste

Posted April 24, 2007 4:33 PM

From PopSci.com:

Energy officials argue for a new breed of reactors that run on recycled radioactive fuel. Later this year, scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee hope to take a big step toward solving America's nuclear-waste woes. Pending clearance from the Department of Energy, they will demonstrate a new toxic-waste recycling process. The aim of the demo—part of a controversial $405-million government project called the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP)—is to transform nuclear leftovers into fuel for a new breed of reactors. The new reactor/fuel combo, GNEP officials say, could produce up to 100 times as much energy as conventional reactors and could generate 40 percent less waste.

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Re: Nuking Nuclear Waste

04/25/2007 8:48 AM

There is more fissionable material in the spent fuel rods from conventional light water reactors than there is in the natural uranium fuel that CANDU reactors normally use. The Koreans who have a combined fleet of CANDU and light water reactors are working on a the DUPIC fuel cycle which will see spent fuel from the light water reactors packaged as CANDU fuel bundles and then burned in the CANDU reactors. The same fuel will be passed through two reactors and all of the waste will end up in the CANDU pool.


With reprocessing after passing through the CANDU there could even be further reductions in waste.

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