Editing Nuclear reprocessing (section)

==History==
The first large-scale nuclear reactors were built during [[World War II]]. These reactors were designed for the production of plutonium for use in [[nuclear weapon]]s. The only reprocessing required, therefore, was the extraction of the [[plutonium]] (free of [[fission product|fission-product]] contamination) from the spent [[natural uranium]] fuel. In 1943, several methods were proposed for separating the relatively small quantity of plutonium from the uranium and fission products. The first method selected, a precipitation process called the [[bismuth phosphate process]], was developed and tested at the [[Oak Ridge National Laboratory]] (ORNL) between 1943 and 1945 to produce quantities of plutonium for evaluation and use in the [[History of nuclear weapons|US weapons programs]]. ORNL produced the first macroscopic quantities (grams) of separated plutonium with these processes.

The bismuth phosphate process was first operated on a large scale at the [[Hanford Site]], in the later part of 1944. It was successful for plutonium separation in the emergency situation existing then, but it had a significant weakness: the inability to recover uranium.

The first successful solvent extraction process for the recovery of pure uranium and plutonium was developed at ORNL in 1949.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc871031/|title=PUREX PROCESS FOR PLUTONIUM AND URANIUM RECOVERY|first1=W. B.|last1=Lanham|first2=T. C.|last2=Runion|date=1 October 1949|website=Other Information: Decl. with deletions Apr. 18, 1960. Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-60|doi=10.2172/4165457 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The [[PUREX]] process is the current method of extraction. Separation plants were also constructed at [[Savannah River Site]] and a smaller plant at [[West Valley Reprocessing Plant]] which closed by 1972 because of its inability to meet new regulatory requirements.<ref>{{cite web |title=Plutonium Recovery from Spent Fuel Reprocessing by Nuclear Fuel Services at West Valley, New York from 1966 to 1972 |url=http://www.osti.gov/opennet/document/purecov/nfsrepo.html |access-date=17 June 2007 |publisher=U.S. Department of Energy |date=February 1996 |archive-date=14 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210314191712/http://www.osti.gov/opennet/document/purecov/nfsrepo.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Reprocessing of civilian fuel has long been employed at the [[COGEMA La Hague site]] in France, the [[Sellafield]] site in the United Kingdom, the [[Mayak]] Chemical Combine in Russia, and at sites such as the Tokai plant in Japan, the Tarapur plant in India, and briefly at the [[West Valley Reprocessing Plant]] in the United States.

In October 1976,<ref>[http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=6561#axzz1zILTm1BT Gerald Ford 28 October 1976 Statement on Nuclear Policy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926112728/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=6561#axzz1zILTm1BT |date=26 September 2018 }}. Retrieved 30 June 2012.</ref> concern of nuclear weapons proliferation (especially after India demonstrated nuclear weapons capabilities using reprocessing technology) led President [[Gerald Ford]] to issue a [[Presidential directive]] to indefinitely suspend the commercial reprocessing and recycling of plutonium in the U.S. On 7 April 1977, President [[Jimmy Carter]] banned the reprocessing of commercial reactor [[spent nuclear fuel]]. The key issue driving this policy was the risk of [[Nuclear proliferation|nuclear weapons proliferation]] by diversion of plutonium from the civilian fuel cycle, and to encourage other nations to follow the US lead.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Politics, Science, Environment, and common sense of Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing 3 decades Later |author=Dr. [[Ned Xoubi]] |journal=Symposium on the Technology of Peaceful Nuclear Energy, Irbid, Jordan |year=2008 |url=http://www.ctaps.yu.edu.jo/stpne/Symposium-Presentationns/Xounbi-The%20politics%20science%20Environment%20and%20common%20sense%20of%20SNF%20Reprocessing.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516130917/http://www.ctaps.yu.edu.jo/stpne/Symposium-Presentationns/Xounbi-The%20politics%20science%20Environment%20and%20common%20sense%20of%20SNF%20Reprocessing.pdf |archive-date=16 May 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://depletedcranium.com/why-you-cant-build-a-bomb-from-spent-fuel/ |title = Depleted Cranium » Blog Archive » Why You Can't Build a Bomb from Spent Fuel|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120204194157/http://depletedcranium.com/why-you-cant-build-a-bomb-from-spent-fuel/|archive-date = 4 February 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://atomicinsights.com/proving-a-negative-why-modern-used-nuclear-fuel-cannot-be-used-to-make-a-weapon/|title=Proving a Negative – Why Modern Used Nuclear Fuel Cannot Be Used to Make a Weapon – Atomic Insights|date=17 February 2015|newspaper=Atomic Insights|access-date=4 April 2018|archive-date=7 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107031323/https://atomicinsights.com/proving-a-negative-why-modern-used-nuclear-fuel-cannot-be-used-to-make-a-weapon/|url-status=live}}</ref> After that, only countries that already had large investments in reprocessing infrastructure continued to reprocess spent nuclear fuel. President Reagan lifted the ban in 1981, but did not provide the substantial subsidy that would have been necessary to start up commercial reprocessing.<ref>[https://fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RS22542.pdf Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing: U.S. Policy Development] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303171717/http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RS22542.pdf |date=3 March 2016 }}. (PDF). Retrieved 10 December 2011.</ref>

In March 1999, the [[U.S. Department of Energy]] (DOE) reversed its policy and signed a contract with a [[consortium]] of [[Duke Energy]], [[Areva NC|COGEMA]], and [[Stone & Webster]] (DCS) to design and operate a [[MOX fuel|mixed oxide (MOX) fuel]] fabrication facility. Site preparation at the Savannah River Site (South Carolina) began in October 2005.<ref>[https://www.nrc.gov/materials/fuel-cycle-fac/mox/reactors.html Duke, Cogema, Stone & Webster (DCS) Reports sent to NRC] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623145215/https://www.nrc.gov/materials/fuel-cycle-fac/mox/reactors.html |date=23 June 2017 }}. Nrc.gov. Retrieved 10 December 2011.</ref> In 2011 the New York Times reported "...11 years after the government awarded a construction contract, the cost of the project has soared to nearly $5 billion. The vast concrete and steel structure is a half-finished hulk, and the government has yet to find a single customer, despite offers of lucrative subsidies." TVA (currently the most likely customer) said in April 2011 that it would delay a decision until it could see how MOX fuel performed in the nuclear accident at [[Fukushima Daiichi]].<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/11/us/11mox.html?_r=1 New Doubts About Turning Plutonium Into a Fuel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911160019/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/11/us/11mox.html?_r=1 |date=11 September 2017 }}, 10 April 2011</ref>