re: #98 laZardo

Isn’t one of those elements weapons-grade plutonium?

Out of my depth, but it depends on the reactor type. Some designs produce only very small amounts of plutonium, making recovery unworkable.

That’s one reason the US (in the case of North Korea) and Russia (in the case of Iran) have offered to build light-water reactors in those countries instead of allowing them to build their own heavy-water plants. The former makes plutonium recovery very difficult, even without the additional safeguard of recovery of spent fuel rods by another country.