April 1977
On April 7, 1977, President Carter banned the recycling of used, or spent,
nuclear fuel from commercial reactors. He asked other nations to do the same to
reduce the risk of nuclear proliferation (the spread of nuclear weapons).
Before the ban, commercial reactors sent their used fuel to reprocessing
plants, where the uranium and plutonium were recycled. The uranium and
plutonium could then be used again in a reactor or, as the President feared, in
nuclear weapons.
The ban eliminated any immediate need for commercial reprocessing plants, but
it meant that additional spent fuel storage facilities would eventually be
needed. Today, most commercial reactors store spent fuel on site. Still highly
radioactive and thermally hot, spent fuel is usually stored underwater in a
deep pool at the reactor site. The water cools the fuel and protects workers
from radiation.
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