reprocess
UK /ɹiːˈpɹəʊsɛs/ · US /ɹiˈpɹɑsɛs/ verb
Forms reprocesses reprocessing reprocessed
- verb To process again.
- verb (engineering) To extract the fissile material (mainly uranium and plutonium) remaining in spent nuclear reactor fuel, allowing it to be recycled into fresh nuclear fuel or (for plutonium and/or uranium-233 from some specialized breeder reactors) used to build nuclear weapons; may also extend to recovering nonfissile but fertile elements remaining in spent reactor fuel (such as thorium), or precious metals produced as fission products.
Synonyms
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “reprocess”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details