Nuclear waste is reusable. Why aren’t we doing it?

A nuclear fuel rod is used for 3-6 years. After that, it’s taken out of the reactor and then continues to stay radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years. Talk about inefficiency. But French nuclear fuel company ORANO is one of the very few companies recycling nuclear fuel on a commercial scale – and has led this field for decades. We went there to find out why. #nuclearrecycling #nuclearwaste #nuclearpower Credits: Reporter: Kiyo Dörrer Video Editor: Frederik Willmann Camera: Marco Borowski Supervising Editors: Malte Rohwer-Kahlmann Fact-Check: Jeanette Cwienk Thumbnail: Em Chabridon Special thanks for a background interview and expertise to: Gregg Butler, Dalton Nuclear Institute of the University of Manchester Read more: Recovering and recycling of nuclear waste, explantation by ORANO: https://www.orano.group/en/nuclear-expertise/from-exploration-to-recycling/world-leader-in-recycling-used-nuclear-fuels Five fast facts about nuclear waste, U.S. Department of Energy https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/5-fast-facts-about-spent-nuclear-fuel Processing of spent nuclear fuel, info page by World Nuclear Association: https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/fuel-recycling/processing-of-used-nuclear-fuel Different spent fuel management strategies, International Atomic Energy Agency: https://www.iaea.org/topics/spent-fuel-management Chapters: 0:00 Intro 1:04 Nuclear power in France 1:57 Step 1: Fuel removal 3:57 Step 2: Cooling 5:09 How does nuclear energy work? 6:40 Step 3: Separation 7:44 The plutonium problem 9:36 Step 4: Vitrification 11:05 The downsides 13:57 Other ways of recycling 14:34: Conclusion