A new state law directs state officials to study the feasibility and commercial viability of recycling nuclear waste. Scientists, working in labs, have demonstrated that recycling spent nuclear rods is possible, but whether it can be done economically is unclear. Hunter Field, writing in the Arkansas Advocate, delves into the new law and its potential in Arkansas:
If successful — and experts say that’s a big if — Arkansas would be the first state in the U.S. and one of the first places in the world to take advantage of this emerging technology.
“The potential for the state or country that gets this right, the economic value to that entity is going to be almost beyond comprehension,” said University of Arkansas System President Donald Bobbitt.
Recycling has long been viewed as a potentially critical piece to the nuclear puzzle, offering an opportunity to cut down on waste and offer additional nuclear fuel.
The U.S. has an aging network of more than 50 nuclear power plants, and those plants’ reactors have always been inefficient.
Most nuclear reactors in the U.S. are only able to use about 5% of the usable material stored in nuclear fuel rods. That has left each plant with piles of spent rods that remain radioactive and contain potentially valuable fuel. And right now, the U.S. doesn’t have any place to put all that waste, which can take thousands of years to decay.
However, the new generation of nuclear plants expected to replace the current fleet in the coming decades have the ability to use the remaining fissionable material in those spent rods.
