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Swiss nuclear power and the case for long-term operation
Designed for 40 years but built to last far longer, Switzerland’s nuclear power plants have all entered long-term operation. Yet age alone says little about safety or performance. Through continuous upgrades, strict regulatory oversight, and extensive aging management, the country’s reactors are being prepared for decades of continued operation, in line with international practice.
Okan H. Zabunoglu, Bernard I. Spinrad
Nuclear Technology | Volume 93 | Number 3 | March 1991 | Pages 376-381
Technical Paper | Enrichment and Reprocessing System | doi.org/10.13182/NT91-A34531
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A flow sheet for simplified reprocessing of long cooled light water reactor (LWR) fuel is presented. The standard Purex process is modified so that after the first solvent extraction cascade (co-decontamination), plutonium is washed out of the organic phase without reduction. This step also washes out enough uranium that the U-Pu product can be directly used as LWR fuel. A finish partitioning step, with plutonium reduction, decontaminates the remaining uranium product. Neither the U-Pu product nor the uranium product requires further purification, process yields are excellent, and plant equipment can be simplified.