B205

B205 is the name of the Magnox nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield in northern England. This plant uses PUREX chemistry (based on tributyl phosphate (TBP)) to extract plutonium and uranium from used nuclear fuel.[1]. The plant was originally constructed and operated by UKAEA, but in 1971 control was transferred to British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL).

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B205 was commissioned in 1964 as a replacement for Britain's first nuclear reprocessing plant, B204, which was converted into a pre-handling plant for B205 and recommissioned in 1969. In 1973, after both plants had been shut down for one year for repairs, a violent reaction in the B204 plant occurred which contaminated the entire plant and 34 workers with ruthenium-106. Following this event the B204 plant was permanently decommissioned [2].

Over its lifetime, the B205 plant has handled over 35,000 tons of expended magnox fuel, and returned over 15,000 tons of uranium to the fuel cycle. Currently the British nuclear industry is in the process of discontinuing the use of all Magnox fueled reactors, with a target date of 2010, and the B205 plant is slated for decommissioning around 2012 after all fuel has been reprocessed [3].

See also

• Reprocessed uranium