This report provides information on the inventory of commercial spent nuclear fuel, referred to herein as used nuclear fuel (UNF), as well as Government-owned UNF and high-level radioactive waste (HLW). Actual or estimated quantitative values for current inventories are provided along with inventory forecasts derived from examining a different future commercial nuclear power generation scenarios. The report also includes select information on the characteristics associated with the wastes examined (e.g. type, packaging, heat generation rate, decay curves).

The purpose of this report is to provide an estimate of potential waste inventory and waste form
characteristics for the DOE UNF and HLW and a variety of commercial fuel cycle alternatives in order to
support subsequent system-level evaluations of disposal system performance. This report is envisioned as
a “living document” which will be revised as specific alternative fuel cycles are developed

A technical assessment of the current inventory [~70,150 metric tons of heavy metal (MTHM) as of
2011] of U.S.-discharged used nuclear fuel (UNF) has been performed to support decisions regarding fuel
cycle strategies and research, development and demonstration (RD&D) needs. The assessment considered
discharged UNF from commercial nuclear electricity generation and defense and research programs and
determined that the current UNF inventory can be divided into the following three categories: