New Technique to Recycle Copper from Wires in Decommissioned Nuclear Facilities

The British Company “Veolia” announced that it has developed a method to recover copper from electric cables in decommissioned nuclear facilities. This process envisages handling and disposal of the plastic coating which surrounds and protects the copper wire within it from radiation, reduces time and cost of waste processing saving copper for recycling.

According to the company, an initial trial of 12 tons of cable that were stripped of their contaminated plastic coating, cut and packaged into drums for safe treatment using high temperature incineration was recycled. The exposed cores of the wires were tested for radioactivity and found to be safe, producing four tons of copper for recycling.

The company estimates that using the recycled copper from decommissioned nuclear power plants saves around 85 % of the carbon emissions associated with copper sulfide extraction from large open pit mines. Estimates show that standard thin gauge to heavy duty electrical cables will make up hundreds of tons of waste during the planned decommissioning across various projects.