mox....to separate plutonium from spent uranium fuel by reprocessing,... which would produce more plutonium than consumed

Bump, in case anyone cares to read this 1996 government report.....

DOOM!

In order to use up the plutonium already separated and the plutonium yet to be separated according to the contracts, the utilities decided to burn it in conventional light water reactors (LWR), namely the MOX program. Originally, this was meant to be a bridging program to fill the time and technical gap moving from LWRs into the plutonium economy which uses FBRs. However, now that the FBR projects have virtually collapsed, the MOX program has become the major part of the plutonium economy.

All nuclear fuel containing plutonium is MOX, including those for the FBRs, but "MOX Program" usually means utilization in LWRs. The difference is the component of the fuel. The content of plutonium for FBR fuels is in the range of 35%, whereas for LWRs, it is 4 to 6 %. (1)

Currently, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Netherlands, UK, and Japan are the countries involved in the MOX program. (Details of these programs will come in the next issue.)