Euradwaste '08 - EU Bookshop - Europa

Figure 4: Spent nuclear fuel (metric tons) as a function of time in the USA, for different prospective
studies and scenarios.
Countries committed to the continuous utilization of nuclear fission and with a large park of nuclear
reactors would face a continuous production of radioactive wastes and a continuous grow in the
number of repositories needed. For example, the amount of spent nuclear fuel accumulated in the
USA as a function of time is displayed in Figure 4 for different evolutionary scenarios considered.
As for Europe, the existing figures for year 2000 [8] indicate an accumulated amount of 37000 tons
with additional 2500 tons of spent fuel being produced every year.
Figure 5: Estimated number of geologic repositories in the USA, for the different scenarios of the
cumulative spent fuel in 2100.
The assessment of the number of geological repositories needed to accommodate the spent nuclear
fuel in geological repositories varies with the different scenarios and solutions adopted for the fuel
cycles and with the implemented radioactive waste and fuel management policies. As an example,
Figure 5 provides an estimation of the number of repositories needed in year 2100 in the U.S.A., for
different scenarios and corresponding amounts of cumulative spent nuclear fuel. The reference indicate
that only one repository is need with P&T, whereas as much as 5-22 could be required with the
direct disposal policy, or otherwise that a repository able to receive the spent fuel of 50 years of
open cycle, could accept the HLW of advanced fuel cycles with P&T, corresponding to 250-1000
years.
The reutilization of energy and the extension of the value of fuel resources from less than 100 years
to several thousands can also be achieved by the simple closed fuel cycle with continuous recycling
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