Evaluation of spent fuel strategies: The Federal Republic of Germany approach

Based on a political decision in 1979, a comprehensive comparative assessment was performed in the Federal Republic of Germany on the two spent fuel management strategies with and without reprocessing. The following results were obtained: With respect to technical feasibility, reprocessing is an established technology, whereas spent fuel disposal has not yet been demonstrated. Analyses of radiological safety did not yield decisive advantages for either one of the fuel cycles. Some unresolved but not unresolvable issues exist with regard to safeguarding a repository for spent fuel. From the standpoint of cost, direct disposal seems to be more economical for the foreseeable future. If aspects such as preservation of technology and utilization of resources are stressed, fuel reprocessing has to be favoured. The results of this study were the basis for a political assessment. The Federal Cabinet concluded that fuel reprocessing should be maintained as the first priority in spent fuel strategy. But, simultaneously, direct disposal technology should be brought to technical maturity for those fuel assemblies for which reprocessing is neither technically feasible nor economically justifiable. There is a good chance that after successful completion of the ongoing direct disposal programme, this strategy could be introduced in the Federal Republic of Germany as an additional reprocessing concept before the turn of the century. (author). 8 refs, 9 figs, 1 tab