Work within the coordinated programme on environmental evaluation and hazard assessment of the separation of the actinides from the high-level waste from fuel reprocessing followed by either transmutation of separate disposal

Reduction of plutonium losses in non-high-level wastes streams from fuel reprocessing is important in the conventional post-fission operations and would be essential in any actinide partitioning alternatives. The balance of input process streams and output waste streams in present reprocessing technology is compared to the balance after process modifications based on recent experimental developments. The results are showing that by the introduction of new electrochemical redox processes and non-salt-forming process chemicals the routinely generated intermediate-level waste streams from PUREX reprocessing can be avoided. Plutonium-bearing waste streams can be extensively recycled within the chemical processing