Magnox reprocessing plant B205 | nuclear reprocessing site

 nuclear reprocessing site  Add category

In 1964 the Magnox reprocessing plant came on stream to reprocess spent nuclear fuel from the Magnox reactors. The plant uses the "plutonium uranium extraction" Purex method for reprocessing spent fuel, with tributyl phosphate as an extraction agent. The Purex process produces uranium, plutonium and fission products as output streams. The Plutonium is used in the production of the warheads for the independent British nuclear weapons deterrent, which is constructed at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment Aldermaston and the Royal Ordnance Factory Burghfield.

Over the 30 years from 1971 to 2001 B205 has reprocessed over 35,000 tonnes of Magnox fuel, with 15,000 tonnes of fuel being regenerated. Magnox fuel is reprocessed since it corrodes if stored underwater, and routes for dry storage have not yet been proven.

The reprocessing operation within Magnox Reprocessing entails the dissolution of the irradiated uranium rods in nitric acid. The solution is then subject to a series of solvent extraction processes in which the uranium, plutonium and fission products are separated into three different streams.

These streams are directed to other plants at Sellafield where the uranium, in the form of uranium nitrate, is converted to solid uranium trioxide; the plutonium, in the form of plutonium nitrate, is converted to plutonium oxide, and the fission products, in the form of nitric liquor, are stored in Highly Active Storage Tanks before being vitrified. For more information on the vitrification process please see the HAL Workstream section of the Sellafield Plan.

www.sellafieldsites.com/operations/spent-fuel-managemen...