The safe, secure and sustainable management of spent fuel from nuclear power reactors is key to the sustainable utilization of nuclear energy and covers many technological aspects related to the storage, transportation, recycling and disposal of spent fuel and high level waste generated from spent fuel reprocessing.
The sustainability of nuclear energy involves the preservation of natural resources and the minimization of generated wastes. Currently, in some countries, the uranium and plutonium remaining in spent fuel are recycled as mixed oxide (MOX) fuel in thermal reactors, saving natural uranium resources. Future advanced fuel cycles based on next generation reactors aim at making nuclear energy almost independent of uranium natural resources and will dramatically reduce the generated wastes.
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