Standard and advanced separation: PUREX processes for nuclear fuel reprocessing

The PUREX process for separating uranium and plutonium from irradiated nuclear fuels has been extensively studied and successfully operated industrially over the preceding five plus decades. It is anticipated that PUREX will play an important role in upcoming and advanced future nuclear fuel cycles. The first objective of this chapter is to provide the background information required to status the present state of the art as currently practiced at the industrial scale. The second objective is to examine the modifications ready, or nearly so, for implementation into the next generation of PUREX reprocessing facilities, thereby further expanding the utility and operation of the process for use in nuclear fuel cycles of the future.