Quote:
Originally Posted by Gravdigr
Don't they break up the spent fuel rods into bullet-sized pieces and shoot them at brown people in sandy places?
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Something like 3% of Uranium gets used in those rods. Problem is those rods are still highly radioactive. And now contains Plutonium.
Uranium ore has less than 1% U-235. Depleted Uranium is the byproduct after removing as much U-235 as possible So depleted Uranium is even less radioactive.
MOX fuel is the process of extracting both Uranium and Plutonium. Then combining those materials to create another useful nuclear fuel. It has not been successfully used in the US but is more commonly used in Russia, Japan, and France. It could substantially reduce the amount of spent nuclear uranium rods. But makes Plutonium proliferation (nuclear weapons and 'dirty' bombs) easier.