Editing Nuclear reprocessing (section)

====Advantages====
* Requires no chemical processes at all
* Can in theory be done "self heating" via the [[decay heat]] of sufficiently "fresh" spent fuel
* [[Caesium-137]] has uses in [[food irradiation]] and can be used to power [[radioisotope thermoelectric generator]]s. However, its contamination with stable {{chem|133|Cs}} and long lived {{chem|135|Cs}} reduces efficiency of such uses while contamination with {{chem|134|Cs}} in relatively fresh spent fuel makes the curve of overall radiation and heat output much steeper until most of the {{chem|134|Cs}} has decayed
* Can potentially recover elements like [[ruthenium]] whose ruthenate ion is particularly troublesome in PUREX and which has no isotopes significantly longer lived than a year, allowing possible recovery of the metal for use
* A "third phase recovery" can be added to the process if substances that melt but don't vaporize at the temperatures involved are drained to a container for liquid effluents and allowed to re-solidify. To avoid contamination with low-boiling products which melt at low temperatures, a melt plug could be used to open the container for liquid effluents only once a certain temperature is reached by the liquid phase.
* Strontium, which is present in the form of the particularly troublesome mid-lived fission product {{chem|90|Sr}} is liquid above {{convert|1050|K}}. However, [[Strontium oxide]] remains solid below {{convert|2804|K}} and if strontium oxide is to be recovered with other liquid effluents, it has to be [[reduction (chemistry)|reduced]] to the native metal before the heating step. Both Strontium and Strontium oxide form soluble [[Strontium hydroxide]] and hydrogen upon contact with water, which can be used to separate them from non-soluble parts of the spent fuel.
* As there are little to no chemical changes in the spent fuel, any chemical reprocessing methods can be used following this process