RU Rosatom completes the first-ever program for operation of nuclear fuel with minor actinides - For the first time in history, humanity has successfully experimented in burning away hazardous nuclear waste with a half-lifetime of over 2,000,000+ years into electricity

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Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Plant, Zarechny (near Yekaterinburg), Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia Hosts the BN-600 (right) and the BN-800 reactors (center), the only two commercially operational breeder reactors in the world as of 2026. A breeder reactor uses fissile material (nuclear fuel), in this case, weapons-grade plutonium (P-239), to generate even more P-239.​	Worker checking fuel assemblies for the BN-800 reactor. Three fuel assemblies had only minor actinides (hazardous nuclear waste such as neptunium-237, which has a half-life of over two millions years), the rest of the fuel assemblies use mixed oxide (MOX) fuel, which basically consists of the fissile material P-239 with non-hazardous uranium nuclear waste.​	The BN-800 reactor (which burns the minor actinides). The products of burning the minor actinides are fission products (hazardous waste that is now only 30-100 years old), plutonium P-238 (not weapons-grade, but a good power generator for satellites), electricity, and neutrons. Studies are being prepared on how much the actinides are burned away that determines how effective the system is to be used industry-wide.​

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22 April 2026 | Link (Rosatom article in English, archives don't work) | Link (TVEL article, in Russian) | Archive (TVEL article archived through GhostArchive)

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Unit 4 of Rosatom’s Beloyarsk NPP has successfully completed the world’s first program of pilot operation in a commercial reactor of uranium-plutonium MOX fuel with the addition of so-called minor actinides – the most radiotoxic and long-lived components from spent nuclear fuel.

Three trial fuel assemblies containing americium-241 and neptunium-237 were loaded into the BN-800 fast neutron reactor core in the summer of 2024. Since that time, they have successfully undergone a full cycle of operation across three fuel micro-campaigns. After cooling in the spent fuel pool, the irradiated assemblies will be dispatched for post-irradiation studies.

The utilization of minor actinides through "burning" in power reactors is a key element in the development of fourth-generation nuclear power industry. These elements - neptunium, americium, and curium - make-up a small share of spent fuel mass, but contribute heavily more to its radioactive toxicity and residual heat release. Isotopes of minor actinides are extremely long-lived (half-lives reaching hundreds of thousands of years), and it is their presence that determines the duration and conditions for radwaste isolation from the environment.

As part of closing nuclear fuel cycle, Rosatom has already gained experience in re-involving regenerated uranium and the major actinide - plutonium - back into the nuclear fuel cycle. However, it is precisely the extraction from SNF and subsequent utilization of "minors" that can resolve the principal environmental challenges associated with radioactive waste management. According to scientists, eliminating minor actinides could achieve radiation equivalence between the original uranium feedstock and the nuclear waste destined for isolation hundreds of times faster. In the long term, this will significantly reduce both the volume and range of radioactive waste requiring deep geological disposal.

The most efficient method for minor actinide utilization is "burning" in a nuclear reactor. The technologies which are currently under developed in Russia, would enable burning of minors in several ways. In particular, fast neutron reactors are suitable for this purpose as they provide transmutation of minor actinides into more stable or short-lived isotopes. Russia has advanced expertise in such installations: over 40 years of operation with the BN-600 at Beloyarsk NPP, as well as the world’s most powerful fast reactor, BN-800, which has been in commercial operation since 2016. Furthermore, at Beloyarsk NPP, construction is planned for the first serial high-capacity fast reactor, BN-1200M.

"Burning minor actinides in a commercial reactor is not a one-off experiment, but a long-term strategy. Before scaling this solution to an industrial level, we are demonstrating the very technological feasibility, that this idea actually works. At the next stage, we intend to increase the content of minor actinides in trial oxide MOX fuel assemblies. In addition, we plan to add minor actinides to nitride uranium-plutonium fuel for fast reactors, and also to test heterogeneous burning of 'minors.' In this case, minor actinides are not 'blended' into uranium-plutonium fuel matrix, but are placed in separate fuel rods or assemblies, which will be installed in specific zones of the reactor," commented Alexander Ugryumov, Senior Vice President for Research and Development at TVEL (the managing company of Rosatom's Fuel Division).

"We expect that the quantity of minor actinides included in the fuel matrix will be substantially reduced, but this will be confirmed by further post-irradiation studies. These results would confirm the concept of minor actinides burning technology and define its role and significance within the balanced fuel cycle. It is anticipated to reduce the amount of radioactive waste for final isolation multiple times. The fourth-generation power units will contribute to enhancing the environmental safety and energy potential of nuclear power by allowing the use of spent fuel instead of its storage. Over approximately 60 years of operation, such installations will be capable of utilizing about four tons of minor actinides, which is more than several thermal reactors can produce," noted Yuri Nosov, Director of Beloyarsk NPP.

The qualification program for MOX fuel with minor actinides is being conducted in strict coordination with the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological, and Nuclear Supervision (Rostekhnadzor), which has confirmed the safety of operating these innovative assemblies.

Reference​

• Minor actinides are a group of transuranic elements formed in nuclear fuel during reactor operation, excluding plutonium. The principal minor actinides include neptunium, americium, and curium. These elements do not occur naturally and are produced solely as a result of nuclear reactions. Minor actinides are characterized by high radioactivity and toxicity, as well as the presence of isotopes with long half-lives, which makes them hazardous components of radioactive waste.
• Generation IV Energy Systems refer to a new generation of nuclear energy systems that incorporate a range of technologies unified by a common outcome: significantly higher fuel utilization efficiency, enhanced safety, improved energy efficiency, and a reduction in the volume of spent nuclear fuel, among other benefits (according to the classification adopted by the IAEA). The deployment of such systems is capable of fundamentally transforming the nuclear power industry, primarily through a new level of safety, an expanded fuel nomenclature, and a substantial reduction in radioactive waste. Russia is one of the global leaders in the development of Generation IV technologies: pre-design work has commenced at the Beloyarsk NPP for the construction of the BN-1200M power unit, and in the Tomsk region, for the first time in world practice, a nuclear power plant with the BREST-OD-300 reactor and an on-site closed nuclear fuel cycle are being created on a single site.
• Fast Neutron Reactors are a type of nuclear reactor in which the coolant is not water but liquid metal. The key advantage of such reactors is their ability to efficiently utilize secondary products of the fuel cycle (in particular, plutonium) for energy production. Moreover, due to their high breeding ratio, fast reactors can generate more potential fuel than they consume, as well as "burn up" (i.e., utilize for energy generation) highly active transuranic elements (actinides). For comparison, in thermal neutron reactors, which form the basis of modern nuclear power, only about 1 % of uranium is utilized, while the remaining 99 % is sent for interim storage or disposed of as radioactive waste.

 

[Otterly]

being able to recycle blades?

Maybe we can nuke them into a plasma. And then when we’ve done the fake green lobby we can do the wind turbine blades

 

[Ly Erg]

Maybe we can nuke them into a plasma.

I know some people have said that it could possibly be reused as rebar but I'm not knowledgeable on that subject to truly call out if it's bullshit or not.

I just think it's silly how people can complain about nuclear waste storage when landfills have tons of turbine blades there too.

Maybe we can nuke them into a plasma. And then when we’ve done the fake green lobby we can do the wind turbine blades

I was more thinking that we can tie them around a windmill's blades and watch them slowly spin around.

 

[Dante Alighieri]

I just think it's silly how people can complain about nuclear waste storage when landfills have tons of turbine blades there too.

It's because the Simpsons has done nigh irreparable damage to how people view nuclear power.

 

[Chunky Salsa]

Regarding ‘why actinides are bad mmmkay’ @Diana Moon Glampers i am wracking my brain but i am sure I’ve read they have some weird effects in the body. They have a long half life so it’s not that they’re going to fry you instantly, but the do other things.
I think they have the usual heavy metal toxicity but also stuff on top of that. I think I remember something about it being a combination of them ending up in the body for almost life, and some weird binding properties to specific molecules or something . I’ll go look it up so I’m not spouting too much rubbish.

They get you in a cool club if you eat some of them. Actinides in general are just awful to have contact you. They often mimic biologically important minerals yes, and you are right about binding to molecules. Specifically, your kidneys and liver! They are often energetically radioactive, and accumulate in and kill the very organs that are there to try and fix you and remove said actinides. Actinides are the cool kids that smoke of chemicals. In that they are cunts and suck and no one likes them.

 

[Meriasek]

To think that Germany also could have had 40 years of experience with this by now. We had a 300MW fast breeder project started in the 70s, but politics cancelled the reactor right before the first fuel was supposed to go in. Sodium cooling was already running, then the local government changed and stopped it. The planned successor was a proper 1.5-2GW reactor, which mogs even most thermal reactor designs now.
Anti-nuke-fags are always "if this technology is so good for reducing waste, why does nobody do it?". Well, asshole, maybe because people like protested the German project to death, and some Greenfag from Switzerland literally fired RPGs at the Superphenix construction site, not exactly helping with its acceptance. Now only Russia has a running fast breeder because fags like you protest everything related to nuclear to death.

 

[Baguette Child]

But could still be used for weapons,

Literally any useful source of fuel in the modern age, nuclear or non, could potentially be used for some sort of weapon. This is a dumb bar to set.

 

[SCV]

The story of Yucca Mountain is a lesson in why all nimbys need to be shot.

Mighty generous of you to simply execute them without making them suffer first.

From what I've read so far on the subject is that there possibly has been some sort of idea on the development on being able to recycle blades? I know there has been ideas thrown around at the very least repurposing them for other stuff. However looking it up I'm getting mixed results on how long the blades last and it's all just over the place to get a proper estimate.

There isn't. The blades are all composite. You can't reuse composite and the materials themselves are cheap (carbon, resin, etc.), the expensive part is making huge things out of single pieces of composite. Imagine making a 10 story tall soda bottle to hold water for your town then throwing it away and replacing it every 10 years because the sun breaks it down.

I was more thinking that we can tie them around a windmill's blades and watch them slowly spin around.

Fun fact: the tips of the blades are moving a hundreds of miles per hour. That's why they kill so many birds. The birds can't see it coming and a hit is basically guaranteed death.

And as long as I'm ranting fusion sucks too. Most of the feasible reactions have some hard to get elements and/or generate neutron radiation. Neutron radiation cannot be confined magnetically (read: at all) and makes anything radioactive. It's still an open question how much of a problem this is and it may well be worse than a well run fission energy chain. However because all the reddit soys and retarded green boomers think fusion is the holy grail we may end up using it anyway.

Weep for how good things could've been if we'd put even token resources into fission research for the past 4 decades. If we'd spent all the ITER boondoggle money on fission instead.