True or false: is nuclear waste recyclable?

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Energy nuclear isit a green energy? The European Commission must answer this question before the end of 2021.

The nuclear industry is refining its green arguments. According to the company Orano, which manages nuclear waste, 96% of spent fuel is recyclable. Almost all of the waste produced by the reactors could so be recycled. But what exactly are we talking about? Uranium assembled in large tubes four meters high, which makes it possible to produce electricity. After four to five years of use, these radioactive metal tubes are sent to the factory. Orano from La Hague (Handle).


There, these materials are stored in swimming pools to lower their radioactivity. After a few years and the passage through several machines, only 4% of the spent fuel contained in the large tubes. This part is not recyclable at all. These are the fission products, which concentrate most of the radioactivity.

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