Perspectives on the back end strategy of the nuclear fuel cycle in the US

The back end fuel cycle option originally selected by the US was the closed cycle with reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel and reuse of uranium and plutonium. This choice was made in the 1960s when rapid continued rapid growth of the nuclear industry was anticipated. With this growth, rapid increases in uranium price and shortage of enrichment capacity (and high enrichment prices) were also expected. It was also expected that fast reactor technology, and MOX fuel fabrication would be only modestly more expensive than their LWR counterparts and that reprocessing would not be expensive. During this period the climate in the US was generally favourable toward nuclear power. However, in 1977 the US Government, concerned over the proliferation effect of the increasing inventories of separated plutonium, decided to ban the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. In 1981 when the ban was rescinded the climate of support of nuclear power had disappeared and no further reprocessing occurred. The US is now committed to the open for the back end of the fuel cycle based on non-proliferation concerns as well as economics, safety, and environmental protection. (author). 1 tab