Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Spent fuel and high-level waste management in selected countries: Trends and issues

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6978023
 [1];  [2]
  1. USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
  2. Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)

This paper contains descriptions of the major parameters and plans for management of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive wastes in Belgium, Canada, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, Sweden Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. All nine countries are planning on disposal of spent fuel and/or high-level wastes in deep geologic repositories, although some have indicated an interest in alternatives such as seabed disposal and partitioning/transmutation. Most countries are planning on decades of interim waste storage, and are not planning to implement disposal until the year 2020 or later. Most countries plan to reprocess their spent fuel and vitrify the resulting high-level waste for disposal. Most disposal concepts utilize numerous engineered barriers that include overpacks and buffer materials. No country has finalized its repository site or concept, and only two have selected a candidate site for detailed evaluation. 7 tabs.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE/RW
DOE Contract Number:
AC06-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
6978023
Report Number(s):
PNL-SA-17770; CONF-900406--65; ON: DE90009455
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English