Up until Carter, we actually HAD spent fuel reprocessing plants. The only real problems are the political will, and regaining that technology that was lost two generations ago.
Luckily, the US is about the only country that stopped reprocessing fuel.
The others never stopped.
“Luckily, the US is about the only country that stopped reprocessing fuel”
Should have said “Unfortunately”, or “Stupidly”.
True, but due to the handwriting being on the wall about the likely fate of the plants, the best qualified personnel began to look for "other opportunities", and as the quality of personnel dropped, safety issues began to crop up.
I actually minored in nuclear science en route to my PhD in chem in the 1970-73 frame, and considered a job in the nuclear industry, as what turned out to be the last reactor built in the US (River Bend), was under construction at the time.
The propaganda war waged against that plant was astounding. One of my chem profs was an extreme liberal, and he bashed the plant in his classes at every opportunity. One of his arguments was that the reactor vessel would suffer "radiation embrittlement" and fail, with a catastrophic radiation release. Plant is still up and running today, and "it ain't happened yet".