Prioritization Criteria for the Selection of Used Nuclear Fuel for Recycling - 11008

As of April 2005, the U.S. nuclear fleet had generated approximately 50,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel that is being stored either in spent fuel pools or in dry storage systems. The burn-up of this used fuel ranges from less than 10 GWd/MT to over 60 GWd/MT, with a median around 40 GWd/MT. Some of this fuel has resided in storage for upwards of 40 years. The U.S. nuclear fleet currently discharges approximately 2,000 metric tons per year and increasing the use of nuclear power to meet electricity generation needs would lead to a proportional increase in the annual discharge rate. The nuclear industry has continually increased the discharge burn-up towards 60 GWd/MT, with the potential to irradiate fuels to higher burn-up fuel being explored. The U.S. is currently exploring alternatives for managing used nuclear fuel and recycling it is under active consideration. While all used fuel could theoretically be recycled, there is a question of practicality regarding whether the entire inventory of used fuel would and could be recycled. The decision to pursue a closed fuel cycle and the type of fuel cycle that could be deployed would depend on many technical, social, and political factors. This paper does not explore these factors, but rather discusses criteria that could potentially influence decisions regarding priority of used fuel that would be recycled, ranging from low burnup, long-cooled fuel stored in sealed dry canisters to high burn-up, short-cooled fuel stored in reactor pools. The criteria evaluated fall into three broad categories: subsequent re-use in a reactor, design/operation of a separations plant, and waste management. This paper does not consider or assume a single recycling technique, rather it investigates the general criteria that would likely be considered in determining the characteristics of the fuel that would be reprocessed.