On 3/18/2011 2:58 AM, Just Wondering wrote:
....

Other countries recycle their spent nuclear rods, resulting in far less
radioactive waste. Why doesn't the USA?

Primarily we never got started because Mista' Ca-ahter (peanut farmer,
nuclear Navy, fairly decent woodworker to keep us on topic ) couldn't
distinguish (didn't understand) the difference between reprocessing for
weapons (nuclear proliferation) and commercial nuclear power and made
two sweeping edicts part of his policy platform --

1) Canceled the Breeder Demonstration project at Oak Ridge, and

2) Executive order that NRC would not consider the application of GE for
licensing a facility at Barnwell for reprocessing commercial nuclear fuel.

We're still paying the consequences for both...

(BS NucE/MS NucSci, retired, w/ 30+ years w/ reactor vendor and
consultant to utilities, various US national laboratories, DOE and
commercial clients...)

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