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PUREX (plutonium uranium reduction extraction) is a chemical method used to purify fuel for nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons. [7] PUREX is the de facto standard aqueous nuclear reprocessing method for the recovery of uranium and plutonium from used nuclear fuel ( spent nuclear fuel , or irradiated nuclear fuel).
The first large-scale nuclear reactors were built during World War II.These reactors were designed for the production of plutonium for use in nuclear weapons.The only reprocessing required, therefore, was the extraction of the plutonium (free of fission-product contamination) from the spent natural uranium fuel.
Fuel Type Procedure Status Reprocessing capacity (tHM/yr) Construction start date Operation date Closure Purpose UP-1 Marcoule: Shut down 0.001 1958 1997 Military CEA APM Marcoule: Fast Breeder PUREX, DIAMEX, SANEX: Operational 6 1988 Civil UP-2 La Hague: LWR: PUREX: Shut down 900 1967 1974 Civil UP-2-400 La Hague: LWR PUREX: Shut down 400 1976 ...
In nuclear reprocessing plants about 96% of spent nuclear fuel is recycled back into uranium-based and mixed-oxide MOX fuels. One of the main method for the separation of spent fuel is the PUREX process, which separates the plutonium and other transuranics from the remainder of the spent fuel. The uranium and plutonium are separated in turn in ...
Workers have begun loading radioactive fuel into a second new nuclear reactor in Georgia, utilities said Thursday, putting the reactor on a path to begin generating electricity in the coming months.
The PUREX plant reopened in 1983 to reprocess N Reactor reactor-grade fuel into weapon-grade fuel. This ended in December 1988, and it returned to standby status in October 1990. [165] The uranium trioxide plant closed in 1995, the PUREX plant closed for good in 1997, and the B Plant in 1998. [166]
Federal regulators have approved plans to load radioactive fuel into a second new nuclear reactor in Georgia. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Friday that Georgia Power Co. and its co-owners ...
The first reprocessing approach is based on the PUREX (Plutonium Uranium Reduction EXtraction) process, which is the standard and mature technology applied worldwide to recover uranium and plutonium from spent nuclear fuel at industrial scale. Following the dissolution of the spent fuel in nitric acid and the removal of uranium and plutonium ...