Spent Fuel
Irradiated fuel assemblies post-burnup, containing ~96% U, 1% Pu, 3% fission products. Highly radioactive; stored wet or dry.
Decay heat ~5-10 kW/assembly initially; cools 5-10 years in pools. US has 90,000 t; no repository. Pool capacity drives dry cask use (Holtec/NUHOMS). Reprocessing recovers 96% value.
Why it matters now
Spent fuel storage bottlenecks delay restarts; dry casks enable 2025-2026 expansions. Reprocessing pilots address waste for advanced cycles.
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