Lesson 5 5.2 History of Fuel Reprocessing
FacilityCountryStart YearProcessFuel TypeCapacity (t/yr)Status
HanfordUSA1944BiPO4, then REDOX, then PUREXMetalVariousClosed
Windscale B-204UK1951BUTEXMagnox (metal)~300Closed 1973
Windscale B-205UK1964BUTEX/PUREXMagnox~1,500Closed 2022
Marcoule UP1France1958PUREXMetal~400Closed 1997
La Hague UP2France1966PUREXMetal/Oxide~800Operating
La Hague UP3France1981PUREXOxide~800Operating
THORP, SellafieldUK1994PUREXOxide (AGR/LWR)1,200Closed 2018
Tokai MuraJapan1977PUREXOxide~90Limited ops
TarapurIndia1982PUREXVarious~100Operating

Key Point: UK Reprocessing Has Ended. With the closure of THORP in November 2018 and the Magnox Reprocessing Plant (B-205) in July 2022, the UK no longer has any operational reprocessing capability. Both plants are now entering decommissioning. In January 2025, the UK Government announced that the stockpile of approximately 140 tonnes of civil separated plutonium produced by decades of reprocessing will be immobilised (rather than fabricated into MOX fuel) and eventually disposed of in a Geological Disposal Facility.