Name: Renee
Status: student
Grade: 6-8
Location: VA
Country: USA
Date: Winter 2011-2012
Question:
I am doing a research project on the integral fast reactor, developed at Argonne. I understand that a big part of the IFR concept is that the reactor's waste is reprocessed. Throughout my research, I have come across the mentioning of "pyroprocessing." Could you explain what pyroprocessing is, and how it works?
Replies:
Renee
Here is an excellent article that explains pyroprocessing of nuclear fuel:
Please refer to paragraph 3.2 of this article to see a description of
pyroprocessing.
More credible references can be found by going to http://www.google.com and
searching on the word "pyroprocessing."
Sincere regards,
Mike Stewart
Dear Renee,
We do not have a general non-technical write-up on pyroprocessing but by searching “nuclear reprocessing” in Wikipedia it gives a general description of the technology and a few links. I have also included a few Argonne web-links that may be useful:
NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.
