Despite the concerns, reprocessing offers some significant advantages:
- Conservation of natural resources: Recycling both U and Pu reduces natural uranium requirements by approximately 40% and saves around 26% of SWU requirements.
- Waste volume reduction: The volume of vitrified HLW is considerably smaller than the volume of intact spent fuel assemblies.
- Energy security: Reprocessing reduces reliance on uranium imports for countries with little or no natural uranium deposits.
- Weapons disposition: Reprocessing technology has enabled the conversion of ex-military weapons material (HEU and Pu) into civilian reactor fuel (the “Megatons to Megawatts” programme).
- Reduced long-term radiotoxicity: Removal of actinides from the waste stream reduces the time required for the waste to decay to background levels.
The economic case for recycling depends strongly on the uranium spot price. Detailed analyses by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency show that recycling both uranium and plutonium as MOX fuel can reduce natural uranium requirements by 17—41% (the range reflects different reactor types and recycling strategies) and SWU requirements by approximately 26%. However, these savings must be weighed against the high capital and operating costs of reprocessing and MOX fabrication facilities. At uranium prices below approximately $100—130/kgU, the once-through cycle is generally more economic; above this threshold, recycling becomes increasingly attractive. The economics also depend on whether the costs of long-term spent fuel storage and disposal (which are avoided if fuel is reprocessed) are included in the comparison.