Reprocessed uranium Russia-bound

05 January 2010

A shipment of uranium recovered from fuel previously used in European nuclear power reactors is en route from Sellafield to Russia for processing into new fuel.

Reprocessed uranium shipment (Image: Sellafield)
Loading the material for rail transport (Image: Sellafield Ltd)

The uranium was recovered from used fuel belonging to customers from Germany and the Netherlands at the Thorp reprocessing plant. Steve Cockayne, head of Thorp, said it was good to see the uranium being exported for incorporation into new fuel. "After all, that's what recycling is all about," he said.

Typically, a rod of uranium oxide nuclear fuel will spend around five years inside a nuclear reactor, but during that time only a small percentage of the uranium it contains is consumed. At discharge – when the fuel is removed from the reactor – up to 96% of the uranium remains, although less than 1% of it consists of fissile uranium-235. The uranium, and the 1% of plutonium contained in spent fuel, can be recovered by reprocessing and then potentially used again in other reactors.

 

Thorp has now exported over 950 tonnes of recovered uranium since 2001 and all of this has taken the same route to Russia for processing, it was confirmed to World Nuclear News. All the uranium has been taken to the Elektrostal facility owned by MSZ for conversion to uranium hexafluoride and then separately enriched for re-use. Details of enrichment contracts made by the European owners are not available.

Recovery of unused plutonium and uranium and recycling means that some 25% more energy can be extracted from the original uranium, and also reduces the volume of high-level radioactive waste to be dealt with (without reprocessing, all of the fuel discharged from a reactor has to be dealt with as high level waste). Recovered uranium is not radiologically identical to unused uranium fuel, and is slightly more difficult to handle. Facilities equipped for this exist in Russia and the material will be prepared for its next purpose there. 

The Thorp plant (Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant) was commissioned in 1994 and primarily reprocesses light water reactor fuel from outside the UK, as well as spent fuel from the UK's Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors (AGRs). The plant spent two years out of service after a pipe rupture was discovered in 2005, but is now performing well, according to Cockayne, who said that throughput for the year had been 165 tonnes. The plant is currently undergoing a planned engineering shutdown.

The reprocessed uranium was transported by train from Sellafield, on the north western coast of England, to the east coast port of Hull for onward shipping to Russia. It is contained in cylindrical steel drums, loaded onto ISO freight containers complying with international transport requirements. 
  

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News