MOX Fuel meaning

MOX fuel (mixed oxide fuel) is reactor fuel made by blending plutonium oxide with uranium oxides sourced from natural, reprocessed or depleted uranium. In practice it is used as an alternative to low enriched uranium in many light water reactors and behaves similarly, though not identically, to standard LEU fuel. The term is descriptive rather than exhaustively defined in UK or Irish primary legislation, but is widely used in nuclear licences, environmental permits and regulatory guidance. In England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, MOX-related activities (fabrication, possession, use, storage, transport and management of spent MOX) engage: nuclear site licensing under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (regulated by the Office for Nuclear Regulation); radioactive substances regulation (Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016 in England and Wales; Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018; Radioactive Substances Act 1993 in Northern Ireland); nuclear safeguards (Nuclear Safeguards Act 2018 and regulations); nuclear security (Nuclear Industries Security Regulations 2003); and transport and export control regimes. In Ireland, where there is no nuclear generation, MOX arises mainly in import/export, transit, transport and radiation protection, regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Radiological Protection Acts and EU Basic Safety Standards. Because MOX contains plutonium, enhanced safeguards, accounting and security apply, and...