![]() Most of the fuel mass in a reactor is uranium-238. In every uranium-based nuclear reactor core there is both fission of uranium isotopes such as uranium-235, and the formation of new, heavier isotopes due to neutron capture, primarily by uranium-238. On the other hand, some studies warned that normalising the global commercial use of MOX fuel and the associated expansion of nuclear reprocessing will increase, rather than reduce, the risk of nuclear proliferation, by encouraging increased separation of plutonium from spent fuel in the civil nuclear fuel cycle. One attraction of MOX fuel is that it is a way of utilizing surplus weapons-grade plutonium, an alternative to storage of surplus plutonium, which would need to be secured against the risk of theft for use in nuclear weapons. The content of PuO 2 may vary from 1.5 wt.% to 25–30 wt.% depending on the type of nuclear reactor. MOX usually consists of two phases, UO 2 and PuO 2, and/or a single phase solid solution (U,Pu)O 2. MOX fuel is an alternative to the low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel used in the light-water reactors that predominate nuclear power generation.įor example, a mixture of 7% plutonium and 93% natural uranium reacts similarly, although not identically, to LEU fuel (3 to 5% uranium-235). ![]() Mixed oxide fuel, commonly referred to as MOX fuel, is nuclear fuel that contains more than one oxide of fissile material, usually consisting of plutonium blended with natural uranium, reprocessed uranium, or depleted uranium. ![]()
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