6. Closed fuel cycle of large-scale nuclear power industry meeting the requirements of nuclear weapons nonproliferation

The interconnection between the development of large-scale nuclear power industry based on fast breeder power reactors with closed uranium-plutonium fuel cycle and the basic requirements of the Nonproliferation Treaty is discussed. Specific features of aqueous method of spent nuclear fuel regeneration, fuel regeneration in melts of fluorine salts, fuel regeneration by the method of radiation gaseous fluorination, electro-chemical regeneration of spent mixed mononitride fuel in molten salts, metallurgical methods of spent fuel refining, annealing technology in the process of nitride fuel reprocessing are considered, and the ways for their improvement are suggested. It is stressed that the concentration of fissionable nuclides in a fuel mixture should exceed that in uranium with enrichment of 20 % of 235 U. The conclusion is made that the fuel cycle schemes on the basis of the technologies considered which will meet the requirement mentioned above can be developed and realized as applied for the large-scale nuclear power industry. The principle capabilities for realization of the principle of uranium and plutonium nonseparation in the process of fuel reprocessing and the conditions for radiation-equivalent disposal of radioactive wastes within the frameworks of all the technologies discussed are proved