Nuclear waste is reusable. Why aren’t we doing it?

A nuclear fuel rod is used for 3-6 years. After that, it’s taken out of the reactor and then continues to stay radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years. Talk about inefficiency. But French nuclear fuel company ORANO is one of the very few companies recycling nuclear fuel on a commercial scale – and has led this field for decades. We went there to find out why.

#nuclearrecycling #nuclearwaste #nuclearpower

Credits:
Reporter: Kiyo Dörrer
Video Editor: Frederik Willmann
Camera: Marco Borowski
Supervising Editors: Malte Rohwer-Kahlmann
Fact-Check: Jeanette Cwienk
Thumbnail: Em Chabridon

Special thanks for a background interview and expertise to: Gregg Butler, Dalton Nuclear Institute of the University of Manchester

Read more:
Recovering and recycling of nuclear waste, explantation by ORANO:
https://www.orano.group/en/nuclear-expertise/from-exploration-to-recycling/world-leader-in-recycling-used-nuclear-fuels

Five fast facts about nuclear waste, U.S. Department of Energy
https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/5-fast-facts-about-spent-nuclear-fuel

Processing of spent nuclear fuel, info page by World Nuclear Association:
https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/fuel-recycling/processing-of-used-nuclear-fuel

Different spent fuel management strategies, International Atomic Energy Agency:
https://www.iaea.org/topics/spent-fuel-management

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:04 Nuclear power in France
1:57 Step 1: Fuel removal
3:57 Step 2: Cooling
5:09 How does nuclear energy work?
6:40 Step 3: Separation
7:44 The plutonium problem
9:36 Step 4: Vitrification
11:05 The downsides
13:57 Other ways of recycling
14:34: Conclusion