The UK has a stockpile of plutonium and uranium big enough to power every household in the country for six years, or up to a century if it continues to be re-processed, according to the Adam Smith Institute (ASI).
The think tank is urging the Government to draw on these reserves as a source of clean energy, while liberalising the “sclerotic” planning system to accelerate Britain’s nuclear development.
Some countries, including France and Japan, already recycle their nuclear waste to make fuel. Britain also used to be a world leader in re-processing, but only used the technique recommended by the ASI on a relatively small scale.
Of course, entirely true.
The think tank said fuel can be made from nuclear waste by mixing plutonium and uranium compounds, turning the blend into small pellets and heating these in a sintering furnace at 1,700C for 36 hours. The pellets are then inserted into a fuel tube, welded shut and put into a reactor. With 140 tonnes of plutonium at the Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria, of which 100 can be used for this purpose, and thousands of tonnes of uranium in the UK, the ASI estimates that Britain has the resources to create enough fuel to power every household for six years.
The think tank said fuel can be made from nuclear waste by mixing plutonium and uranium compounds, turning the blend into small pellets and heating these in a sintering furnace at 1,700C for 36 hours.
The pellets are then inserted into a fuel tube, welded shut and put into a reactor.
With 140 tonnes of plutonium at the Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria, of which 100 can be used for this purpose, and thousands of tonnes of uranium in the UK, the ASI estimates that Britain has the resources to create enough fuel to power every household for six years.
MOX, great stuff, the only reason not to use it is interminable reguilation. Something that government can solve – if it wishes to.