UN Nuclear Chief Says Recycling Nuclear Waste ‘Difficult’ After Biden Looks to Fund Reprocessing Projects

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi speaks with journalists after he and a part of the IAEA mission came back from a Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant at a Ukrainian checkpoint in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on Sept. 1, 2022. Anna Voitenko/Reuters

Rafael Grossi, director-general of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has downplayed the chances of nuclear reprocessing becoming a reality in many nations.

In an interview with Reuters, Grossi said he doesn’t see many nations looking seriously into reprocessing as it is a “very difficult technology” that requires a lot of infrastructure. However, if countries were to pursue it, the IAEA would work to make sure that such activities would remain safe, he said.