The Bush administration wants to invest in nuclear power, and this means restarting the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel.
Twenty years ago President Carter banned reprocessing because it was too expensive and there was concern terrorist groups could get access to plutonium and make nuclear bombs. President Reagan lifted the ban and Clinton reinstated it.
But the administration plans to ask in its 2007 budget next month for $250 million so the Department of Energy can develop new ways to reprocess nuclear fuel to make it harder to use its plutonium byproduct in nuclear weapons.
Reprocessing separates uranium and plutonium from spent fuel so the elements could be used further. In Britain, this is done at Thorp in Sellafield.
Twelve of the 33 nations that generate nuclear electricity practice reprocessing.
Thousands of tons of nuclear waste are piling up at nuclear power plants around the US.
In the UK, it was announced last week that the inventory of the stockpile of waste has dramatically increased because military waste has been added to the list for the first time.
Please note: renewable energy cannot be used as a weapon of mass destruction, and leaves no harmful residue.
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