The importance of waste disposal in energy policy

A survey of the problem as a whole concerning waste management of nuclear power plants is presented. From the present-day point of view, the costs for the reprocessing, conditioning, and final storage of radioactive waste will make up for about a third of the fuel cycle costs, and some 12% when taking into account the proceeds from recovered uranium and plutonium. Despite fuel costs having gone up to 1.6 Pfennig/KWh, the competitiveness of nuclear energy has not changed as the costs of fossil primary energy carriers increased at the same time. It is important to cater in good time for sufficient storage capacities. The quantities of irradiated fuel to be deposited are expected to reach about 7,500 t U. A time schedule for the planning and the erection of a fuel reprocessing centre, and a survey of fields of responsibilities are presented. (PHP)