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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).

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