Assessing waste management options

A final decision on waste management options at the back end of the fuel cycle will be taken by the West German government in the mid-1980s. To assist decision making, the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Centre has undertaken a comparative study of the alternative waste management routes: disposal and reprocessing. The criteria for comparison are technical feasibility, radiological impacts, raw material requirements and proliferation hazards. The study and criteria are discussed in relation to the storage and processing of irradiated fuel elements, their conditioning prior to disposal, and their eventual disposal. (author)