A Review of Environmental and Economic Implications of Closing the Nuclear Fuel Cycle—Part One: Wastes and Environmental Impacts

Abstract

Globally, around half a million tonnes of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) will be in dry or wet storage by around 2050. Continued storage is not sustainable, and this SNF must eventually either be disposed (the open nuclear fuel cycle) or recycled (the closed fuel cycle). Many international studies have addressed the advantages and disadvantages of these options. To inform this debate, a detailed survey of the available literature related to environmental assessments of closed and open cycles has been undertaken. Environmental impacts are one of the three pillars that, alongside economic and societal impacts, must be considered for sustainable development. The aims are to provide a critical review of the open literature in order to determine what generic conclusions can be drawn from the broad base of international studies. This review covers the results of life cycle assessments and studies on waste arisings, showing how the management of spent fuels in the open and closed cycles impact the environment, including the use of natural resources, radioactive waste characteristics (heat loading, radiotoxicity and volume) and the size of the geological repository. In the framework of sustainable development, the next part of this review will consider economic impacts.

Molecular Dynamics Study of the Aggregation Behavior of N,N,N′,N′-Tetraoctyl Diglycolamide

“…The removal of actinides significantly reduces the time taken for nuclear waste to be isolated from the environment before its radiotoxicity falls below that of the uranium ore. Also, the minor actinides are the main contributors to heat generation in the longer term (once plutonium is separated from spent fuel), and their removal enables a more compact arrangement of radioactive waste in the disposal facility, thus reducing the size of the disposal facility. This is the so-called partitioning and transmutation strategy for recycling actinides in a fully closed fuel cycle. − In this strategy, after the PUREX process has been used to extract uranium, plutonium, and possibly other metals such as neptunium and technetium, the remaining HLW is contacted with a mixture of a diluent hydrocarbon, TODGA, and n -octanol. A commonly used diluent is hydrogenated tetrapropylene (TPH).…”

A self-optimised approach to synthesising DEHiBA for advanced nuclear reprocessing, exploiting the power of machine-learning

“…[23][24][25][26] Dialkylamide and diamide ligands are two successful groups of ligands for the removal of long-lived radionuclides, with the dialkylamide, DEHiBA (N,N-di-(2ethylhexyl)isobutyramide) proving to be an ideal replacement for TBP. 11,[27][28][29] DEHiBA offers improved selectively for uranium devoid of extracting plutonium, [30][31][32] thus enhancing proliferation resistance for the GANEX (Grouped Actinide Extraction) process. 33,34 Notably, the GANEX second cycle flowsheets employ more complex ligands like the diamides to facilitate transuranic extraction downstream.…”

Spent Nuclear Fuel—Waste or Resource? The Potential of Strategic Materials Recovery during Recycle for Sustainability and Advanced Waste Management

“…Reducing carbon dioxide emissions in order to achieve Net Zero targets will be essential in combating climate change, a transition that will be challenging and intensive in both adapting and replacing energy generation technologies and acquiring material resources that can help deliver this transition [12]. As nuclear power will be an essential technology in reaching Net Zero [13], expanded nuclear power capacity will require a significant paradigm shift in adapting and implementing processes across the entire nuclear fuel cycle (NFC) to address present inefficiencies [14], high costs [15,16], and public, political, and environmental concerns [17,18], especially in light of finite fissile and fertile resources [19]. Although new and likely future reactor designs are more thermally and fuel efficient than most of the established nuclear fleet [20], further NFC improvements will be essential to ensure the necessary supporting infrastructure for a holistic, cradle-to-grave approach to nuclear energy, such as comprehensive SNF recycle [2,17,18] and advanced waste management techniques [21][22][23] which can meet Net Zero targets.…”