The policy of the United States with respect to the reprocessing of spent fuel

Of the last four U.S. administrations, three (the Ford, Carter and Clinton administration) have demonstrated a marked bias against the reprocessing of spent fuel because of the alleged nuclear proliferation risks. There are signs, however, both within the Clinton administration and the Congress, that the current hostility to reprocessing may be weakening, primarily because of the urgent need to effectively dispose of the large plutonium stocks derived from weapons that must be dismantled pursuant to agreement with Russia for vast reductions in U.S. and Russian stockpiles of nuclear weapons. (authors)