The REDUCE process (an acronym for Recover Elements – Destroy Undesirables – Create Energy) is a nuclear reprocessing initiative. It aims to transform high-level nuclear waste from an environmental liability into a valuable resource. Commercial reactors typically use less than 5% of the potential energy stored in nuclear fuel. REDUCE targets the recovery of the remaining ~90–95% of usable uranium and plutonium. There are several differences from existing/legacy technology (PUREX): Traditional aqueous methods like PUREX isolate pure, weapons-usable plutonium whereas this keeps plutonium mixed with other actinides, improving proliferation resistance. Older technology relies heavily on large-scale nitric acid dissolution and solvent extraction whereas this uses pyroprocessing (electrochemical molten salt separation) and advanced centrifugal contactors for smaller, cleaner footprints. Finally, instead of just extracting bulk uranium and plutonium for standard mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel, this targets valuable medical, industrial, and space isotopes (such as strontium or americium) alongside fuel materials.