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How can nuclear fuel be reprocessed to recover uranium and plutonium?

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Labeled diagram showing the process of a nuclear power plant with a pressurized-water reactor. Water circulates through the reactor core, heats to produce steam in a steam generator, which drives a turbine connected to an electric generator. Steam is then cooled in a condenser using water from a cooling tower, which releases nonradioactive water vapor. Control rods, pumps, and transmission lines are also indicated. — nuclear power Schematic diagram of a nuclear power plant using a pressurized-water reactor.

Nuclear fuel is primarily reprocessed using the plutonium-uranium extraction (PUREX) process, a solvent-extraction method designed to recover uranium and plutonium from spent fuel.12

The process involves several key steps:

Preparation: The fuel cladding is removed mechanically or chemically, and the remaining fuel is dissolved in nitric acid.12
Extraction: The solution is contacted with an organic solvent containing tributyl phosphate (TBP), which acts as a complexing agent to pull uranium and plutonium into the oil phase, leaving most fission products in the aqueous waste stream.12
Separation and Purification: The uranium and plutonium are separated from the TBP and from each other using aqueous reductants and additional extraction-strip cycles to achieve the desired purity.12

The recovered materials can then be converted into oxides—such as plutonium dioxide—for recycling into new reactor fuel or other applications. While reprocessing offers a path toward a "closed-loop" fuel cycle, it remains a sensitive issue due to concerns regarding nuclear proliferation, necessitating strict oversight by bodies like the International Atomic Energy Agency.234