Experts say that new high-efficiency nuclear fuel which is meant to burn longer and stronger may prove to be highly unstable.

The increase in power can be obtained by further enriching uranium, this leading to the possibility of extracting more electricity. This process has worked well in the pressurized water and boiling water reactors in the US and elsewhere.

The primary objective has been to produce more power from fuel and produce less radioactive waste. A new generation of nuclear plants in the US and UK have reactors with burn up rates of 60 GWd/tU. At these rates, uranium should burn about a year more. Still, research has shown that there are certain safety issues. A sudden loss of cooling water might cause a meltdown. Even though the US nuclear energy Electric Power research Institute says that a loss of coolant is not possible in modern reactors, the NRC has still launched a three-year review of the safety standards.

Disposal would be another problem, because the new high efficiency fuel is 50% more radioactive than the fuel currently in use.