2008, 138). Spent fuel processing or reprocessing are
terms used to describe this process. Reprocessing can
be used to remove fissile waste materials from spent
reactor grade uranium, so that the fuel may be used
again. In this case the plutonium is a waste product.
Reprocessing could also be used to recover the plu-
tonium. In this case the plutonium recovered by re-
processing can be used as fuel for commercial nuclear
reactors like those used in France. Reprocessing could
be considered desirable, because in practical terms
it ensures a “near-infinite” supply of nuclear fuel
and it can reduce the total volume of nuclear waste
produced. However, this plutonium could also be a
source of nuclear material for a thermonuclear bomb.
Because of this inherent risk, provisions were placed
in the NPT addressing reprocessing and “developing
nations that signed the NPT have agreed that they will
not reprocess spent fuel” (Muller 2008, 137).
Under President G. W. Bush, the United States re-
versed a long-standing policy to abstain from nuclear
fuel reprocessing, funding a program described as
nuclear fuel “recycling” (Squassoni et al. 2008). Presi-
dent Obama has reversed this decision by withdraw-
ing funding for this program before any reprocessing
activity occurred. At President Obama’s direction,
the Blue Ribbon Commission is specifically address-
ing issues related to U.S. nuclear fuel reprocessing.
Dr. James Acton, from the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace, addressed the Commission and
spoke against domestic spent fuel reprocessing, stat-
ing: “The real value of American restraint is not that
it encourages existing reprocessers to stop; it is that
it doesn’t encourage new ones to start” (Acton 2010).
Linked to the issues of reprocessing is the need for
the United States to decide on a path forward for long
term storage of nuclear waste.
sharon
(sharon)
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