Share This! Text SizeAAA Share Email  Reprocessing and Nuclear
Terrorism   U.S. civilian nuclear power plants use only low-
enriched uranium (LEU) as fuel. LEU cannot be used directly to
make nuclear weapons. As the fuel is burned up in the reactor,
plutonium and radioactive fission products are produced. The
plutonium and remaining uranium can be separated from the other
materials in spent nuclear fuel by a series of chemical
operations known as "reprocessing." The purified plutonium that
is obtained from reprocessing can be reused as fuel, but states
or terrorist groups can also use it to make nuclear weapons.
Over three decades ago, the United States decided on nuclear
non-proliferation grounds not to reprocess the spent fuel
generated by civilian nuclear power plants, but instead to
directly dispose of it in a geologic repository. However, the
United States does not yet have a geologic repository and
policymakers periodically propose that the United States begin
to reprocess its spent fuel. Reprocessing e