Waste disposal economics: a life cycle cost model

The nuclear waste disposal program, a major investment for the United States, should be carried out with a concern for cost-effectiveness. This paper describes a computer model designed to allow one to explore and compare the cost-effectiveness of different waste disposal options. The model, a relatively aggregated representation of the life cycle costs associated with moving, processing, and ultimately disposing of nuclear waste, consists of six submodules. The submodels represent the various functions which must be performed as spent fuel moves from the reactor to the repository. In this paper, the model is used to explore the cost-effectiveness of an illustrative parametric variation, the selection of the commercial high-level waste form diameter. Cost curves illustrate how specific and system-wide costs vary as the waste form diameter is varied