Clustering is widely used in various fields in order to investigate structural characteristics of the given data. One of the main tasks of clustering is to partition a set of objects into homogeneous groups for the purpose of data reduction. In this paper a simple but computationally efficient clustering procedure is devised and some statistical techniques to validate its clustered results are discussed. In the given procedure, the proper number of clusters and the clustered groups can be determined simultaneously. The whole procedure is applied to a practical clustering problem for the classification of reusable fuels in nuclear power plants.