Transport of Reprocessed Uranium: Regulatory Aspects and Experience

The reprocessing of spent fuel allows to separate three kinds of materials : uranium. plutonium and, at last, other actinides and fission products. The content in uranium 235 of the recovered uranium is commonly around 1 % and makes it a valuable material. This is why several countries, and particularly France, which have chosen to reprocess their spent fuel have also decided to recycle the reprocessed uranium. While uranium separated from spent fuel leaves the La Hague reprocessing plant under the form of uranyl nitrate with an enrichment of about 1 %, it has to be transformed into uranium dioxide, with an enrichment ranging from 3.5 % to 4 %, to be incorporated in new fuel assemblies for use in nuclear reactors. Several processes are necessary to ensure this recycling operation. As they are performed in different places, uranium under various forms and enrichments must be transported.