Recycling of spent nuclear fuel is turning into big business
Recycling of spent nuclear fuel is turning into big business
In an ideal world, there would be no toxic waste from the operation of civil nuclear reactors. But as numerous leaders and scientists have said on many occasions, we have to deal with the world as it is, not as we would like it to be.
Nevertheless, finding safe ways to dispose of spent nuclear fuel by reusing it remains a goal of research and development (R&D) around the world. Programmes on recycling the waste from nuclear fission into fuel have assumed a greater degree of urgency in line with the resurgence of interest in civil nuclear energy, coupled with the assessment that supplies of new uranium may be unable to meet demand.
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Recycling toxic materials made headlines earlier this year when the US Department of Energy (DoE) opened talks with five companies about converting surplus weapon-grade plutonium into reactor fuel. Explaining the rationale behind the move, Josh Jarrell, deputy assistant secretary for the nuclear fuel cycle, said in a statement: “Surplus plutonium was once viewed solely as a nuclear liability and a multi-billion-dollar financial drain on taxpayers – but it doesn’t have to remain one.”
Recycling spent fuel carries implications for many other aspects of the nuclear life cycle, from resource management and sustainability to energy independence and safe disposal of waste. It has been on the WNE programme in one form or other since the exhibition’s earliest days.
Most recycling technology aims to turn unburned uranium, which accounts for about 95% of spent fuel, and plutonium, which makes up 1% of the total, into new fuel. The remaining 4% is classed as high-level radioactive waste that must be prepared for long-term geological disposal by methods such as vitrification.
The world as a whole is belatedly waking up to the importance of nuclear power in the overall energy mix. After more than two decades of stagnation, the capacity of the global nuclear fleet is expected to increase by one-third by 2035.
That’s the projection of the latest World Energy Outlook from the International Energy Agency (IEA) based on existing energy policies and the expectation of “a record high in nuclear power output” in 2025.
"Technology advances… are improving the outlook for nuclear power,” says the report. “As demand surges and the need for reliable, low-emission baseload electricity increases, nuclear is increasingly seen as a critical part of a secure, affordable and diverse electricity mix."
It’s a welcome reversal in fortune for the nuclear industry, which had “suffered some decline and stagnation” from the late 1970s to early 2000s, although its share of world electricity generation remained at 16-17 per cent.
Now, with the very public support for nuclear by the current US administration, the French government’s new multiyear energy programme (PPE) putting renewed focus on nuclear, and other countries looking into it, the nuclear industry appears to be gaining momentum. This point was not lost on the international visitors, delegates and exhibitors who attended the 2025 edition of the World Nuclear Exhibition (WNE) in record numbers and contributed to the buzz in the exhibition hall and conference rooms.
WNE 2023_© Collectif Favart
Challenges of plutonium
Recycling plutonium is described as a broad and complicated technical area, some aspects of which are well understood and well-proven, while others are less so. The US initiative is laudable because it addresses the thorny issue of what to do with a substantial amount of highly toxic waste by encouraging innovative solutions.
The US does not at present have reprocessing facilities for either plutonium or spent uranium. Meanwhile, its commercial nuclear operations continue to add to the volume of waste, which is estimated at more than 90,000 metric tons, stored at reactor sites.
Although many countries have considered recycling, France is currently the only European Union member state that actively operates industrial-scale nuclear fuel recycling facilities.
The process used, a closed fuel cycle by which spent materials are converted into fresh fuel, is managed by WNE platinum sponsor Orano at two sites: La Hague in Normandy, and Melox in Gard. At La Hague, a chemical process is used to separate reusable uranium and plutonium from spent fuel assemblies, which the Melox facility blends recycled plutonium with depleted uranium to make new mixed oxide (MOX) fuel.
Orano ‘sector of excellence’
Orano describes recycling as a “mature industry” and a “sector of excellence” for the company, serving the existing nuclear fleet, pressurised water reactor (EPR) newbuilds, and fourth-generation reactors.
The company says R&D into MOX 2, a new type of fuel that will allow repeated recycling of nuclear fuels, will drastically increase the amount of recycled materials to as much as 40% from current levels of about 10%.
“By limiting annual production of high-level waste to 200m3, recycling allows us to manage our own waste safely and responsibly,” Orano says.
Several other countries, notably China, India and Japan, see recycling as a means of developing sovereignty in nuclear fuel supplies. China, which has firmly established itself as the world’s most aggressive builder of new capacity in recent years, is building back-end infrastructure to support a plutonium-based closed fuel cycle in two projects. The first began test operation in 2023; the second, reports Power magazine, is expected to start up as early as this year.
As well as building its own reprocessing plant – a “crucial first step” toward fuel self-sufficiency – China remains in long-running negotiations with Orano about building a larger commercial facility. Recycling will address the supply quandary faced by Chinese planners: it imports about 80-85% of the country’s total uranium consumption, although new domestic mining is expected to reduce its reliance on foreign sources.
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Spur to innovation
The plutonium effort in the USA could help “spur innovation on American recycling technologies” as well as boosting the nuclear industry, Mike Goff, principal deputy assistant secretary of nuclear energy, said in a statement.
For its surplus plutonium utilization programme, the DoE named five companies to begin advanced negotiations for converting surplus Cold War weapons-grade plutonium into reactor fuel. The companies are WNE exhibitor Exodys Energy, Flibe Energy, Oklo, Shine Technologies, and Standard Nuclear.
The objective is to convert about 20 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium from military inventories to civil reactor fuel to alleviate domestic shortages of fuel for advanced reactors.
Oklo said it plans to develop the fuel with Newcleo, a European group with sites in 19 locations across the continent that is working toward “closing the fuel cycle” through a combination of proven technologies and new developments. At WNE in November 2025, Newcleo presented the progress being made toward licensing and deployment of its lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR).
New York-headquartered Exodys says it is “turning the used fuel dilemma into a circular fuel economy” with its proprietary technology called Upcycle, a modular pyro-recycling system for spent nuclear fuel. The young company says its technology, based on molten salts, allows for the recovery of more than 85% of usable materials for reuse in current and advanced reactors. It says: “This approach significantly reduces the volume and radiotoxicity of final waste, while ensuring energy security.”
The Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) says there is “a compelling strategic case” for recycling spent fuel, as well as opportunities for a broad swathe of supply chain companies in areas from transport to next-generation metallurgical and chemical processes. Join the debate at WNE 2027, which brings the world’s civil nuclear industry to Paris from 7-9 December 2027.
At the WNE 2023 conference, Emilie Sauchay, HR Manager of Ineo Nucléaire, discussed their strategic workforce planning for 2022 and 2023. She noted the recruitment of skilled workers as a significant factor but emphasised the necessity of making training programs available for professionals outside of the industry.
“For me, the most important one is to be able to train people in our professions, to be able to attract employees who are not currently in the sector but who would like to join this dynamic sector,” Emilie Sauchay stated. She also added that to support the growth of their workforce, Ineo Nucléaire developed training academies and a network of training centres.