| Nuclear energy policy continues to advance. There | | | | the effort and providing research and |
| is an initiative to make the nuclear fuel cycle more | | | | development resources. These technologies |
| efficient, cleaner, and generate less waste. The | | | | involve advanced chemical separation and |
| nuclear fuel cycle in the U.S. generally involves | | | | recovery processes, fabrication and lead assembly |
| uranium mining, nuclear fuel fabrication, nuclear | | | | testing of new types of advanced nuclear fuel, |
| reactor operation, spent fuel removal and storage, | | | | and design and testing of a new generation |
| and spent fuel and nuclear waste disposal. Other | | | | nuclear reactor to use such fuel. Plutonium and |
| countries, such as France and Japan, reuse their | | | | uranium, and other transuranic elements, would be |
| spent fuel because it contains large quantities of | | | | efficiently removed using the so-called UREX |
| enriched uranium and plutonium. These two | | | | process and recovered. |
| elements are used in the nuclear reaction. The | | | | An advanced nuclear fuel cycle would have a |
| potential energy savings is huge, since each pellet | | | | number of benefits. It will reduce the volume of |
| of recovered enriched uranium, about the size of | | | | existing spent fuel. Currently, spent fuel is being |
| an eraser on a fat pencil, can generate as much | | | | stored in pools at various reactors sites around |
| energy as three cords of wood or three barrels | | | | the U.S. It would also increase the capacity of the |
| of fuel oil in equivalent energy. Currently, spent | | | | storage facility by reducing the amount decay |
| nuclear fuel is targeted for deep geological | | | | heat generated by the spent fuel. It is predicted |
| repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. But, | | | | that toxic long-lived radioactive components can |
| research has shown that over 99% of the fuel | | | | be destroyed through burning in a nuclear reactor |
| can be recycled and reused. | | | | and transmutation, which is the process of |
| An Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI) has been | | | | converting the radioactive elements into stable, |
| under development for a several years. To | | | | safer isotopes. Radiotoxicity can be reduced after |
| support this initiative, most of the national | | | | aging of the spent (advanced) fuel by over 70% |
| laboratories and numerous countries are | | | | after 100 years, and over 99.9% after 1000 |
| developing and demonstrating new advanced | | | | years. Reactors similar to the sodium-cooled Fast |
| technologies. Countries such as the U.S., Russia, | | | | Flux Test Facility (FFTF) could be considered for |
| Japan, France, Korea, and others are spearheading | | | | more efficient transmutation. |