UK is going to launch a giant project which may endow with a steady support for the country’s electricity till 2060. The nuclear industry has proposed a £1bn fuel processing plant at Sellafield which will convert UK’s 60,000 tons of nuclear wastes into reactor fuel to produce 60% of their vital electricity.
A separate processing plant will also have to be constructed. There plutonium and uranium will be extracted from the waste. Then these elements will be processed to create Mox or mixed oxide. To carry out these subsequent processes another plant or a total renovation of Sellafield’s existing mox plant at a cost of £1bn. will have to be done. Lastly the resulting fuel rods and pellets will be burnt in nuclear reactors.
However, the proposed project has already turned into a bone of contention between the green groups and Govt.’s chief science advisor, Sir David King. According to green groups the move would lead to the creation of ‘a plutonium economy’ in Britain.
A report also says that the Sellafield reprocessing plan would cost several billion pounds, a price that may also wind up opponents of nuclear energy. There is no economic justification for this plan. On the other hand, rejecting all these opposing arguments King already convinced the government to back a new UK reactor construction program. He also believes that the vast investment will be repaid in terms of electricity. However, after a thorough study was carried out, it was found that the use of a new generation of nuclear plants really has potential viability and Britain will go almost self-sufficient in nuclear fuel for the coming years.
Via: Next Energy News
