Plutonium recoverable

The plutonium metal is recycled to MSE and ER. The white salt phase together with the crucible contain less than recoverable amounts of plutonium and are discarded. The black salt phase which contains the unrecovered plutonium is combined with other black salt phases and sent through a second reduction step. Complete details of the process are given in Reference.11... 

The third fact is that spent nuclear fuel is not waste. Spent nuclear fuel contains 2% to 3% waste, but is about 97% recoverable uranium and plutonium. Each bundle has the potential electric energy equivalent of more than 10 million barrels of oil. High-level nuclear wastes consist of fission products and actinides that are extracted from spent fuel, but not saved for commercial use or research. Spent fuel may be temporarily stored until it is reprocessed to separate the waste from the valuable plutonium and uranium. The remaining glassified waste will then be permanently entombed. 

Under the first and second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties, as well as unilateral pledges made by both the United States and Russia, thousands of nuclear weapons will be dismantled. Initially, this will result in between 70 and 100 metric tons of weapons-related plutonium that will require long-term disposition. The selected disposition strategy (stabilization and storage versus permanent disposal) should not only protect the public and the environment, but must also ensure that the plutonium is not readily recoverable for use in weapons (NRC 1994). The initial U.S. strategy called for... 

Fuel is generally the fundamental component of a nuclear power plant. It is in fact by the fission of either uranium or plutonium that it is possible to release recoverable thermal energy, according to one of the two standard methods used ... 

---