•Reprocessing technologies separate fissile from non-fissile material in spent fuel.
•The material is chemically treated to separate fissile material left behind from the non-fissile material.
•Importantly, reprocessing also yields weapons-usable (different from weapons-grade) plutonium.
•The IAEA has specified eight kilograms of plutonium in which plutonium-239 accounts for more than 95% to be the threshold for “safeguards significance”.
•It tightly regulates the setting up and operation of these facilities as a result.
•India has reprocessing plants in Trombay, Tarapur, and Kalpakkam. The Trombay facility reprocesses 50 tonnes of heavy metal per year (tHM/y) as spent fuel from two research reactors to produce plutonium for stage II reactors as well as nuclear weapons.