At last year’s UN Climate Conference, 14 European countries agreed to triple their nuclear energy production by 2050. Nuclear waste must be addresses if nuclear power is to be considered a clean, safe source of energy.
Two initiatives announced today serve as a joined up solution.
International start-up Newcleo is developing is small nuclear power plant that recycles nuclear waste. The EU is keen on these Small Modular Reactors as part of its energy strategy and two month ago called for an industrial alliance for these “dwarf” plants.
But the problem of dealing with nuclear waste remains.
German-based Advanced Metallurgical Group, has created a spinoff in France; NewMOX, to supply the nuclear industry with pellets of recycled mixed oxide fuel materials (MOX). In a process known as sintering, radioactive uranium oxide from old fuel rods, as well as plutonium oxide from nuclear weapons disarmament, are pulverised then combined under heat and pressure.
The technology behind this process has been known for decades, but not developed, since Germany previously took to approach to phase-out nuclear power.
Sources
Dieses startup will atommuell weniger radioaktiv machen, Handelsblatt, 2024-03-04
Dieses konzern recycelt atommuel mit deutscher technologie, Ibid., 2024-03-05
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