World status report: management of spent nuclear fuel

Twenty years ago it was assumed that most irradiated nuclear fuel (spent fuel) would be reprocessed. Unburnt fissile uranium and plutonium contained in the fuel could be separated and recycled as a fuel, in either conventional or fast reactors. In addition, the long-lived, heat-generating wastes could be compressed into a smaller volume. Today the basic case for reprocessing has come into question and there are signs of a shift towards fuel storage and disposal policies. The current position of reprocessing and reprocessing facilities is reviewed. The main countries involved are Japan which will have to receive back 45 tonnes of reprocessed plutonium by 2002 and France, where the stock of spent fuel in storage will double during the 1990s. In both countries, alternatives to reprocessing are now being considered. (author)