COP27: UN nuclear chief says radioactive waste recycling is ‘difficult’ technology

Recycling radioactive waste from nuclear power has security and cost challenges but the UN International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) would be able to monitor the process should the United States take that path, the IAEA head said this week.

The administration of US President Joe Biden sees the expansion of nuclear energy as critical in tackling emissions linked to climate change in the world’s second-biggest greenhouse gas emitter, and views recycling as a smart way to both boost domestic nuclear fuel supplies and reduce waste.

The US Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, or ARPA-E, aims to develop a dozen projects to recycle spent nuclear fuel.