reprocessing

English

Verb

reprocessing

1. present participle and gerund of reprocess

Noun

reprocessing (countable and uncountable, plural reprocessings)

1. A second or subsequent processing.
2. (engineering, nuclear physics, uncountable) The process of extracting useful or valuable materials from used nuclear fuel, mainly focusing on the recovery of fissile and fertile material for use in fresh nuclear reactor fuel, or, in some cases, the manufacture of nuclear weapons.
   • 2023 December 27, Ben Jones, “Inside Sellafield... by rail”, in RAIL, number 999, page 20:

     For 75 years, it has fulfilled a wide range of roles: producing weapons-grade plutonium for early atomic weapons in the aftermath of the Second World War; the world's first commercial nuclear power station supplying electricity to the National Grid; reprocessing and storage of nuclear fuel; and the processing of lower grades of radioactive waste for off-site storage.

Derived terms

• eye movement desensitization and reprocessing