Report of the American Nuclear Society President's Special Committee on Used Nuclear Fuel Management Options

Most discussions of significant expansion of commercial nuclear power eventually get around to the question _What about the waste?_ In early 2010, American Nuclear Society (ANS) President Tom Sanders formed the ANS President_s Special Committee on Used Nuclear Fuel Management Options (the Committee) to explore the options for managing used nuclear fuel (UNF). The Committee produced _Report of the ANS President_s Special Committee on Used Nuclear Fuel Management Options_ (the Report). The term _used nuclear fuel_ was chosen for the Report, in preference to _waste,_ because it is a more accurate term. While fuel discharged from a reactor can be treated as waste, it does not have to be. In several nations with large commercial nuclear power industries, fuel discharged from a reactor is reprocessed, and >90% of the material from the UNF can be incorporated into new fuel for reactors. Since the Report discusses a range of options for managing fuel from nuclear reactors, _used nuclear fuel_ is more appropriate. The Report is divided into two parts. Part I, _Current Status and History of Used Nuclear Fuel Management,_ provides background information that is useful when assessing the options for UNF management, including a history of UNF management in the United States. Part II, _Options for Used Nuclear Fuel Management for the Next Century,_ summarizes options for storage of UNF until it is prepared for final disposition. It also presents options for treatment and final disposition of the UNF. These options are presented within the context of two bounding scenarios for the use of nuclear power in the United States between now and 2100. The Committee members did not attempt to predict the future of nuclear power in the United States nor did they try to define a comprehensive suite of possible scenarios. Instead, the Committee identified two scenarios thought to be bounding. In the first scenario, nuclear power is phased out after the current nuclear power plants reach the ends of their lifetimes. In the second scenario, nuclear power continues to be utilized and is expanded to provide half of the increased demand for electricity in the United States over the next century. The UNF management options for those two scenarios are then defined. Fuel management options needed for any alternative scenario for the use of nuclear power would be included among those defined for the bounding scenarios considered by the Committee. Finally, the Committee_s findings are summarized in the section _Concluding Remarks._