Do nuclear power be can recycle?

Answer 1

To some degree the fuel can be recycled, the process is called reprocessing.

The easiest form of reprocessing is to chemically separate the plutonium that the reactor produced during its operation. This plutonium is then mixed with fresh enriched uranium to produce mixed oxide fuel (MOX) for use in reactors, cutting down the demand for expensive enrichment. This still leaves the spent uranium and fission products and all the transuranic (other than plutonium) in the radioactive waste, as well as producing significant amounts of liquid chemical wastes containing radioactive contaminates. France is the only country that uses this process to any degree at this time.

A better form of reprocessing uses an electroplating process to separate uranium and all the transuranic (not just plutonium) that the reactor produced during its operation. This only leaves the fission products in the radioactive waste. No country currently uses this process, but the US tested it while they were developing the integral fast breeder reactor (which got canceled before a complete prototype could be built).

Answer 2

That depends on how you view waste. Nuclear creates no additional radio active material. It does have waste, although less the coal fuels plants. Additionally, nuclear produces zero carbon dioxide emissions for those that care about the production of this gas.

The above is misleading. Nuclear waste is mostly the fission products, that is the remains of the uranium which are left after fission. These are highly radioactive, and must be stored carefully, however they are all contained inside the spent fuel rods, so provided the fuel rods are carefully stored, the waste doesn't present any problems to the environment.

The waste from these plants is most certainly problematic. The volume though can be quite small. A nuclear powered aircraft carrier, for example, will be powered for twenty years on a fuel cell (the actual radioactive material) the size of a dime cubed. This material has been processed to a very high degree though and is deadly if you come in contact with it. This material will also be around for many many centuries and must either be dismantled or stored virtually forever. There currently is no legal method to dismantle nuclear material.

Answer 3

The U-235 in the spent fuel will be depleted, but there is still some there and if the uranium was separated out from the other material, it could be fed back into the enrichment route. It probably has as much U-235 as natural uranium does, though this depends on what length of irradiation it has been through in the reactor (this is measured in MegaWattDays per tonne). The other useful material in the spent fuel is plutonium, which contains some fissile isotopes and some non-fissile. If this is separated out it can be then mixed with new uranium to give a mixed fuel (MOX). This is already done in the UK and in France, but it requires a complicated reprocessing plant which can itself be a source of controversy and potential danger. As far as I know there is no such plant used for commercial purposes in the US but there must be military plants for smaller quantities.