MOX processing
Civil plutonium management

The main steps involved in processing irradiated MOX fuel as carried out at the La Hague plant are the same as those for processing UO ₂ fuel. After unloading from the reactor and cooling, the fuel once arrived at the processing plant is sheared and then dissolved in nitric acid. After dissolution, uranium, plutonium, minor actinides and fission products are separated. These last two categories make up the waste, which today is vitrified. Uranium and plutonium, which are to be reused, undergo a purification stage, followed by transformation, enabling them to be used again in fuel fabrication.