Nuclear fuel reprocessing. Nuclear fuel rods and containers (below water) being moved by lifting machinery (yellow) at a nuclear fuel reprocessing centre. The fuel rods contain waste nuclear fuel from nuclear power stations. Waste nuclear fuel, a highly radioactive mix of nuclear fission products and unused nuclear fuel, is stored under water for a few years to allow the radioactivity to decrease. The water absorbs the radiation. Eventually, the unused fuel (plutonium and uranium) will be extracted to make new fuel rods. The waste fission products will be sealed in containers and stored for hundreds of years until they are safe. This is the La Hague reprocessing centre in northern France. Photographed in 2004.