page_title: Nuclear fuel cycle
section_title: Once-through nuclear fuel cycle
hierarchical_section_title: Nuclear fuel cycle / Fuel cycles / Once-through nuclear fuel cycle
caption_attribution_description: English: Simple once through nuclear fuel cycle (or chain depending on your POV)
context_page_description: The nuclear fuel cycle, also called nuclear fuel chain, is the progression of nuclear fuel through a series of differing stages. It consists of steps in the front end, which are the preparation of the fuel, steps in the service period in which the fuel is used during reactor operation, and steps in the back end, which are necessary to safely manage, contain, and either reprocess or dispose of spent nuclear fuel. If spent fuel is not reprocessed, the fuel cycle is referred to as an open fuel cycle; if the spent fuel is reprocessed, it is referred to as a closed fuel cycle.
context_section_description: Not a cycle per se, fuel is used once and then sent to storage without further processing save additional packaging to provide for better isolation from the biosphere. This method is favored by six countries: the United States, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Spain and South Africa. Some countries, notably Finland, Sweden and Canada, have designed repositories to permit future recovery of the material should the need arise, while others plan for permanent sequestration in a geological repository like the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in the United States.
caption: A once through (or open) fuel cycle
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