Nuclear fuel that's been irradiated in a nuclear reactor
Spent nuclear fuel, occasionally called used nuclear fuel, is nuclear fuel that has been irradiated in a nuclear reactor (usually at a nuclear power plant). It is no longer useful in sustaining a nuclear reaction in an ordinary thermal reactor and, depending on its point along the nuclear fuel cycle, it will have different isotopic constituents than when it started.[1]
Nuclear fuel rods become progressively more radioactive (and less thermally useful) due to neutron activation as they are fissioned, or "burnt", in the reactor. A fresh rod of low enriched uranium pellets (which can be safely handled with gloved hands) will become a highly lethal gamma emitter after 1–2 years of core irradiation, unsafe to approach unless under many feet of water shielding. This makes their invariable accumulation and safe temporary storage in spent fuel pools a prime source of high level radioactive waste and a major ongoing issue for future permanent disposal.
^Cite error: The named reference largeassociates was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
and 28 Related for: Spent nuclear fuel information
Spentnuclearfuel, occasionally called used nuclearfuel, is nuclearfuel that has been irradiated in a nuclear reactor (usually at a nuclear power plant)...
Spentfuel pools (SFP) are storage pools (or "ponds" in the United Kingdom) for spentfuel from nuclear reactors. They are typically 40 or more feet (12 m)...
Onkalo spentnuclearfuel repository is a deep geological repository for the final disposal of spentnuclearfuel. It is near the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power...
Nuclear reprocessing is the chemical separation of fission products and actinides from spentnuclearfuel. Originally, reprocessing was used solely to...
Nuclearfuel is material used in nuclear power stations to produce heat to power turbines. Heat is created when nuclearfuel undergoes nuclear fission...
dispose of spentnuclearfuel. If spentfuel is not reprocessed, the fuel cycle is referred to as an open fuel cycle (or a once-through fuel cycle); if...
A nuclear flask is a shipping container that is used to transport active nuclear materials between nuclear power station and spentfuel reprocessing facilities...
geological repository storage facility within Yucca Mountain for spentnuclearfuel and other high-level radioactive waste in the United States. The site...
Mixed oxide fuel, commonly referred to as MOX fuel, is nuclearfuel that contains more than one oxide of fissile material, usually consisting of plutonium...
spentfuel, and because Pu-239 is the preferred material for nuclear weapons, reprocessing is seen as a weapon proliferation risk. The first nuclear power...
shielding. In nuclear reprocessing plants about 96% of spentnuclearfuel is recycled back into uranium-based and mixed-oxide (MOX) fuels. The residual...
Nuclear power has various environmental impacts, both positive and negative, including the construction and operation of the plant, the nuclearfuel cycle...
This alloy has application as thick corrosion-resistant overpack for spentnuclearfuel disposal in deep crystalline rocks. Magnetic tape was first used to...
or isotopes of plutonium. Over the long term, 237 Np also forms in spentnuclearfuel as the decay product of americium-241. 237 Np is considered to be...
reprocessing of spentnuclearfuel is a potential key to achieve a sustainable nuclearfuel cycle and to tackle the heavy burden of nuclear waste management...
their operations, maintenance, and fuel costs are at the lower end of the spectrum of costs. However, building a nuclear power plant often spans five to...
tons of temporary storage capacity for spentfuel from civilian nuclear reactors. It required that spentfuel in temporary storage facilities be moved...
The thorium fuel cycle is a nuclearfuel cycle that uses an isotope of thorium, 232 Th , as the fertile material. In the reactor, 232 Th is transmuted...
remove the remaining nuclearfuel material from the plants. TEPCO completed the removal of 1535 fuel assemblies from the Unit 4 spentfuel pool in December...
nuclear experts told Congress that spent-fuel pools at US nuclear power plants are too full. They say the entire US spent-fuel policy should be overhauled in...
fuel pool Nuclearfuel cycle SpentnuclearfuelNuclear flask This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Spentnuclearfuel storage...
decision-in-principle later. The Onkalo spentnuclearfuel repository is a deep geological repository for the final disposal of spentnuclearfuel, the first such repository...
2006, following ten years of review, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a license for the Private Fuel Storage (PFS) project, which the State...
storing high-level radioactive waste, such as spentnuclearfuel that has already been cooled in the spentfuel pool for at least one year and often as much...
for storing spentnuclearfuel containers, a security checkpoint, and other technical facilities. The area contains? spentnuclearfuel (SNF) in storage...
used nuclearfuel (spentnuclearfuel, or irradiated nuclearfuel). It is based on liquid–liquid extraction ion-exchange. PUREX is applied to spent nuclear...
operated by Sellafield Ltd (which is the site licensee company). Spentnuclearfuel from nuclear reactors was reprocessed to separate the 96% uranium and the...