Is Spent Fuel or Waste from Reprocessed Spent Fuel Simpler to Dispose of?

Abstract

Currently, the Department of Energy plans to permanently dispose of spent fuel without reprocessing, but some experts believe that this will waste a valuable source of uranium and plutonium and pose special waste isolation problems. Until the Congress makes a decision on the future of nuclear power, DOE has no option but to plan for any eventuality--including the potential geological disposal of spent fuel. This report concludes that spent fuel; is more difficult to isolate from the biosphere than high-level waste reprocessed from spent fuel and discusses the status of DOE's efforts to provide a manmade barrier system which, when placed around the waste in a repository, will contain the radioactivity for at least the first 1,000 years.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 12, 1981
Accession Number
ADA106573

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Construction
  • Environment
  • Environmental Protection
  • Fission
  • Fission Products
  • Governments
  • Hazards
  • Materials
  • National Governments
  • Nuclear Energy
  • Nuclear Fuels
  • Nuclear Materials
  • Nuclear Reactions
  • Nuclear Reactors
  • Radioactive Materials
  • United States
  • Waste Management

Readers

  • Environmental Engineering.
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security
  • Systems Analysis and Design