LWR recycle--economic at what price U3O8

The Department of Energy has suggested that the Presidential decision to delay reprocessing is also an economic one. To test this hypothesis, a detailed economic analysis is currently being conducted by the Subcommittee on Financing the Nuclear Fuel Cycle of the Atomic Industrial Forum Committee on Financial Considerations. Two cycles studied for their economic impacts are illustrated. The first is the traditional closed fuel cycle upon which the nuclear power industry has based its planning. The second is the throwaway cycle or an open cycle which does not utilize the residual uranium and plutonium values contained in the spent nuclear fuel leaving power reactors. Instead, the fuel is stored and cooled at the reactor site and/or at an intermediary site prior to ultimate disposal in a waste repository. 28 refs