Nuclear power has been questioned almost since its early stages and one of the major issues in relation to its social acceptability around the world is nuclear waste management. An important and inevitable by-product of nuclear energy production is the spent nuclear fuel that needs to be managed and handled in a safe, responsible and effective way. Thus, reprocessing and recycling of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) could be one of the key points to advance the social acceptability of nuclear energy. Hence, it is very significant to know the technologies available for SNF management, their advantages and disadvantages, the technologies that are currently under research and the future R&D tendencies, as well as which alternative suits better the needs for each country and its particular context. Furthermore, the interactions among legal, economic, and technological issues are essential. This book covers the state of the art technologies on the recycling and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, reviewing past and current technologies, the possible implications of Fourth Generation nuclear reactors, and associated safely and security issues. It introduces both the conventional cycle along with new fuel cycle technologies and analyzes the benefits, economic considerations, and proliferation risks of spent nuclear fuel reprocessing. This book gives an overall view of the technologies available for SNF management, analyses the economic cost that the use of the different technologies could entail, as is key when selecting a strategy for SNF management, highlights the importance of the legislation and some intangible assets, such as social acceptability of the technology, which can have an influence so important that it may lead to the disappearance of that technology by making it economically unviable. This book will be of valued for Students, researchers as well as professionals working on the separation and recycling of spent nuclear fuel.

In connection with the recent treatment of radium and the actinides, the Gmelin Institute is carrying out the description of thorium and its compounds. The supplement volume A 2 comprising the history, isotopes and the recovery of thorium and the supplement volumes C 1, C 2 and C 3 describing the compounds with the noble gases, hydrogen, oxygen compounds and nitrogen compounds have already been published; also published is supplement volume C 5 describing the compounds with sulfur, selenium, tellurium, and boron. The supplement volume D 1 and D 2 describing the properties of thorium ions in solution and the solvent extraction of thorium, as well as supplement volume E describing the coordination compounds have also been published. The present volume deals with the technical fabrication of important thorium compounds and their uses in the nuclear and non-nuclear fields. It also describes in detail the behavior of thorium nuclear fuels during operation of a nuclear power plant as well as the reprocessing of burnt-up thorium fuels. By far the most important Th compound is ThO2 due to its high chemical and thermal stability as well as its high melting point near 3000°C, the highest for any metal oxide. The inherent radioactivity of 232Th and the formation of radioactive daughter products are important limiting factors in the technical scale use of thorium compounds because of necessary radiation protection measures and of health physics. 232Th is transformed by neutrons to the fissile uranium isotope 233U. Thorium therefore is an excellent breeding material, especially for high-temperature reactors. A lot of basic and technical investigations for reprocessing of spent thorium fuel have to be done; no such reprocessing plants exist as yet.

The question of how to effectively, efficiently, and responsibly manage used nuclear fuels is a concern of major impediment in the light of today's increasing usage of nuclear power and development of advanced nuclear reactors. This book focuses on two significant areas of (used) nuclear fuel: the reprocessing technology, and waste disposal and management. The book covers the fundamental knowledge, the current state-of-the-art, and future research activities for each topic.This book provides readers with the fundamental knowledge behind of nuclear used fuel reprocessing and radioactive waste management, and their technical applications, and their requirements and practices; to make the readers aware of social, economic, and environmental concerns as well as technical research needs. The book covers two well-known and well-developed reprocessing technologies: aqueous reprocessing technology, and electrochemical pyroprocessing. On the subject of waste management, it covers the dry storage of used nuclear fuel, novel waste form design, and nuclear waste disposal.This book is a good guide for readers who want to understand, apply, or develop the technologies.

Disposal of radioactive waste from nuclear weapons production and power generation has caused public outcry and political consternation. Nuclear Wastes presents a critical review of some waste management and disposal alternatives to the current national policy of direct disposal of light water reactor spent fuel. The book offers clearcut conclusions for what the nation should do today and what solutions should be explored for tomorrow. The committee examines the currently used "once-through" fuel cycle versus different alternatives of separations and transmutation technology systems, by which hazardous radionuclides are converted to nuclides that are either stable or radioactive with short half-lives. The volume provides detailed findings and conclusions about the status and feasibility of plutonium extraction and more advanced separations technologies, as well as three principal transmutation concepts for commercial reactor spent fuel. The book discusses nuclear proliferation; the U.S. nuclear regulatory structure; issues of health, safety and transportation; the proposed sale of electrical energy as a means of paying for the transmutation system; and other key issues.