Disposition of High-Level Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel: The Continuing Societal and Technical Challenges
Disposition of High-Level Waste and Spent Nuclear Fuel: The Continuing Societal and Technical Challenges
There has been, for decades, a worldwide consensus in the nuclear technical community for disposal through geological isolation of high-level waste (HLW), including spent nuclear fuel (SNF). However, none of the national programs established to implement geological disposal has yet succeeded in establishing a geological repository and emplacing HLW in it. The large and growing HLW inventory from civilian and military reactor use over nearly 60 years remains in surface facilities intended only for interim storage.