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Why the World Still Can't Figure Out Nuclear Waste Recycling
Despite decades of research and successful programs in France and Japan, nuclear waste reprocessing remains rare worldwide — a paradox explained by economics, proliferation fears, and political inertia.
Key Takeaways
- France has reprocessed nuclear spent fuel commercially since 1976, but the US banned it in 1977 over proliferation concerns and never restarted
- Current uranium prices make reprocessing more expensive than fresh fuel, removing the economic incentive in the absence of policy mandates
- Advanced fast reactors could use actinide waste as fuel and solve the long-lived waste problem — but require system-level investment decades away
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DT Editorial AI··via technologyreview.com