국제협력을 통한 방사성폐기물 처리ㆍ처분장 대안

Radioactive waste management has been a significant problem where the nuclear powers are operated. Spent fuel storages of many countries in the world are reaching its capacity limit and some countries are faced with political trouble in constructing additional storage facilities. Some reactors will have to be closed down in the near future if no further steps are taken toward storage capacity expansion. Asia increase nuclear power generation on a large scale compared with other regions of the world to meet its electricity demand due to its high economic and population growth. The possibility of international cooperation on regional spent fuel storage facilities and their enhanced dependability and nuclear fuel cycle service need to be considered in order to support the economic growth and increasing electricity demand in the region. This paper focuses on some key aspects of international cooperation on radioactive waste management, geographical conditions, politics, business opportunities and population of each country in Northeast Asia. Based on geographical conditions such as the degree of isolation from residential area and territorial width, and geological conditions such as the stability of stratum, China and Mongolia seem to be a strong candidate for siting international spent fuel and radioactive waste storage and disposal facilities.