NEI Nuclear Notes

Let’s kick off the year with news that has a, shall we say, rather odd tinge to it: Chinese scientists have mastered the technology for reprocessing nuclear fuel, potentially yielding additional power sources to keep the country's economy booming, state television has reported. The breakthrough will extend by many times the amount of power that can be generated from China's nuclear plants by allowing the recovery of fissile and fertile materials to provide new fuel, CCTV said. Well – that’s good news, I guess, though it sounds like fast reactor technology to me. It gets a little stranger: Chinese scientists have been working on the technology for more than 20 years, but the details of the process they developed are being kept secret, CCTV said. Hmmm. This story goes a little further: China is not the first country to discover this technique. However, China’s discovery of the process is likely to have a far bigger environmental impact than in the ...