Nuclear waste reclamation

Question

Is it possible to reclaim nuclear waste from commercial reactors for useful purposes, if not necessarily energy production?

What kind of "useful purposes" are you thinking of? – Kyle Kanos May 02 '14 at 15:27 — Kyle Kanos, May 02 '14 at 15:27
Is this question (v1) a physics or a shopping question? – Qmechanic Jan 23 '17 at 09:44 — Qmechanic, Jan 23 '17 at 09:44

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered May 02 '14 at 15:44

5

Yes, that is referred to as reprocessing. It has been done in Japan and many other places. Recovered plutonium can be used for nuclear weapons or reactor fuel.

answered May 02 '14 at 15:44

DavePhD

16,164

1

Indeed, an old school friend of mine used to work for the company that reprocesses fuel in the UK. – John Rennie May 02 '14 at 16:04

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 23 '17 at 09:28

In addition to reprocessing and the extraction of plutonium as stated before, other possible uses would be: Extraction of strontium 89 for medical uses

Extraction of palladium, rhodium and ruthenium for chemical catalysts.

Use of the spent fuel rods as heat source. The radioactive decay of the fission products in a fuel rods produces significant heat for many years.

Nuclear waste reclamation

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