Radioactive Waste from Fuel Cycles

One of the consequences of a nuclear fuel cycle is the generation of radioactive waste, including spent nuclear fuel. Different nuclear fuel cycle choices result in both different amounts of spent nuclear fuel and different locations where that fuel is stored.

These figures show the amount of spent nuclear fuel generated by different nuclear fuel cycles, categorized by where the waste is located. (Hover over the legend for more details.)

Fuel Cycle Costs

Operating any energy system, including a nuclear energy system, has a variety of different costs, including the costs of the nuclear fuel cycle. Different nuclear fuel cycle choices result in both different total fuel cycle costs and different distributions of those costs.

These figures show the impact on the fuel cycle cost of different fuel cycle options, broken down by the cost for different ways to store and manage spent nuclear fuel. (Hover over the legend for more details.)

Wet Storage: Spent fuel that is stored in cooling pools at reactor sites.
Wet Storage: The costs to store spent fuel in cooling pools at reactor sites.
Dry Storage: Spent fuel that is stored above ground at reactor sites.
Dry Storage: The costs to store spent fuel above ground at reactor sites.
Repository: Spent fuel that is disposed in a centralized geologic repository.
Repository: The costs to dispose of spent fuel in a centralized geologic repository.
Waste Recycling: Spent fuel that has been reprocessed for use in other reactors and therefore does not need to be stored.
Waste Recycling: The costs to reprocess spent fuel for use in other reactors so that it does not need storage or disposal.
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2100
2000
Wet Storage
Dry Storage
Repository
Waste Recycling
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Nuclear Fuel Cycle 1

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle 2

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Nuclear Fuel Cycle 3

Mass of Waste by Fuel Cycle

Cost by Fuel Cycle