Fifteen years of experience in the use of reprocessed uranium

In 1983, a small batch of fuel obtained from LWR reprocessed uranium (REPU) was introduced in a German nuclear reactor. Since this starting point, the reprocessing plants have delivered more that 12000 tonnes of REPU. This amount with further grow in the years to come in a pace comparable to the output of a large uranium mine. In the meantime, the industry quietly put in place the facilities which were needed to take benefit of the material. This includes chemical conversion of REPU, enrichment, fuel fabrication and transport as well as reactor irradiation. Large scale recycling of REPU is now implemented albeit limited to a fraction of the available material and thus to a few numbers of reactors. Nevertheless, a significant operating experience is continuously accumulated by the industry in each step of the REPU on the operation and maintenance conditions has been metered. Appropriate actions have been carried out in order to minimise this impact and to properly and safety run the concerned facilities and plants. Information available from different industrial sources is gathered and summarized. An assessment of the experience including the achievements and the issues still to be solved is given. (authors)