Status and Trends in Spent Fuel Reprocessing

The management of spent fuel arising from nuclear power production is a crucial issue for the sustainable development of nuclear energy. The IAEA has issued several publications in the past that provide technical information on the global status and trends in spent fuel reprocessing and associated topics, and one reason for this present publication is to provide an update of this information, which has mostly focused on the conventional technology applied to industry. However, the scope of this publication has been significantly expanded, in an attempt to make it more comprehensive, and by including a section on emerging technologies applicable to future innovative nuclear systems, as are being addressed in such international initiatives as INPRO, Gen IV and MICANET. In an effort to be informative, this publication attempts to provide a state-of-the-art review of the technologies, and to identify major issues associated with reprocessing as an option for spent fuel management. It does not, however, provide any detailed information on some of the related issues, such as safety or safeguards, which are addressed in other relevant publications.