Views on Spent Fuel and HLW Management
- Development of long-term management solutions should proceed irrespective of the future of nuclear power generation.
- Volumes of spent nuclear fuel and high level waste produced are small and manageable.
- Spent fuel and HLW is being safely stored on an interim basis and can be continued to be safely stored using current practices for many decades.
- Spent Fuel and HLW is highly regulated and subject to multiple oversight authority of governments.
- Many countries have R&D programs on long-term spent fuel management to develop improved methods and techniques. Over 10B$ US has already been spent engaging over 20,000 scientists worldwide.
- Several countries have concluded that geological disposal is technically safe and feasible. Some countries are implementing geological disposal and have identified potential disposal repository sites.
- Alternative management strategies are being studied in a number of countries, often within a framework of environmental impact assessment.
- A step-wise approach in decision-making is being used to address long-term management of spent nuclear fuel and HLW.
- Financial provisions are being made for radioactive waste management. Long-term costs are recovered from current electricity consumers and not passed on to taxpayers or future generations.