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Non-proliferation specialists advise US to not support nuclear fuel project

Nuclear expansion specialists who served under four U.S. presidents told President Joe Biden and his administration on Thursday that a pilot task to recycle spent nuclear fuel would breach U.S. nuclear security policy.

SHINE Technologies and Orano signed a memorandum of comprehending in February to develop a U.S. plant to recycle, or recycle, nuclear waste. It would have a capacity of 100 tonnes a year beginning in the early 2030s.

The project would break a policy signed by Biden in March, 2023 that states civil nuclear research and advancement should concentrate on techniques that avoid producing and building up weapons-usable nuclear product, the specialists said in a letter to the president.

If such a center were constructed in the United States, it would legitimize the building of recycling plants in other nations, therefore increasing dangers of expansion and nuclear terrorism, they stated.

Numerous non-proliferation supporters oppose reprocessing, stating its supply chain could be a target for militants looking for to take materials for use in a crude a-bomb.

France and other countries have reprocessed hazardous waste by breaking it down into uranium and plutonium and recycling it to make brand-new reactor fuel. A U.S. supply chain would likely be far longer than in those countries, non-proliferation experts state.

Former President Gerald Ford halted reprocessing in 1976, pointing out expansion concerns. Former President Ronald Reagan raised a moratorium in 1981, however high expenses have actually avoided plants from opening.

The White House's national security council and the National Nuclear Security Administration did not immediately react to ask for comment.

A SHINE spokesperson said its innovation improves worldwide security and that accountable recycling of invested fuel is the just recognized way to actually get rid of plutonium that has actually already been generated in fission reactors.

An Orano USA representative said: It's a mixing of our expertise to develop a procedure that is delicate and addresses non-proliferation issues, however also obtains this practical industrial material.

The letter was signed by 11 former U.S. authorities including Thomas Fellow citizen, who served under President Barack Obama, Robert Einhorn, who served under President Bill Clinton, Robert Galluci, who served under President George H.W. Bush, and Jessica Matthews, who served under former President Jimmy Carter.

The Biden administration believes atomic energy to be important in the fight against environment modification. But the waste is kept in storage in swimming pools and then thick casks at nuclear plants throughout the country as there is no permanent place to put it. The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, or ARPA-E, stated in 2022, it is moneying a dozen jobs to recycle the waste, with $38 million.

(source: Reuters)