A reexamination of the incentives for actinide burning

Actinide burning (AB) is a concept that would greatly reduce the amounts of long-lived transuranic (TRU) nuclides in wastes going to the repository. The concept is implemented by intensified processing to reduce actinide losses to wastes and subsequent recycling of the actinides to liquid-metal reactors (LMRs). As a result, AB may simultaneously (a) simplify waste management by fissioning the TRU nuclides to shorter lived nuclides, (b) generate electricity, and (c) greatly extend uranium resources. In previous studies, researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory compared the long-term repository risk reduction from AB to increases in cost and contemporary risk. They concluded that incentives for AB did not exist. Similar conclusions were reached by European investigators. During the decade since these studies, there have been two major developments related to the incentives for AB. The first is that the challenges inherent in characterizing, licensing, and funding a repository have become clearer and are larger than originally anticipated. The second development is the establishment of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standard and US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) criteria to provide a specific measure of repository acceptability, as opposed to the many assumptions and calculations inherent in previous analyses. Consequently, the incentives for AB have been reexamined in the context of these developments and are discussed in this paper