Transporting and Storing High-Level Nuclear Waste in the U.S.—Insights from a Mathematical Model
Source abstract
Abstract
The nuclear industry in the United States of America has accumulated about 70,000 metric tons of high-level nuclear waste over the past decades; at present, this waste is temporarily stored close to the nuclear power plants. The industry and the Department of Energy are now facing two related challenges: (i) will a permanent geological repository, e.g., Yucca Mountain, become available in the future, and if yes, when?; (ii) should the high-level waste be transported to interim storage facilities in the meantime, which may be safer and more cost economic? This paper presents a mathematical transportation model that evaluates the economic challenges and costs associated with different scenarios regarding the opening of a long-term geological repository. The model results suggest that any further delay in opening a long-term storage increases cost and consolidated interim storage facilities should be built now. We show that Yucca Mountain’s capacity is insufficient and additional storage is necessary. A sensitivity analysis for the reprocessing of high-level waste finds this uneconomic in all cases. This paper thus emphasizes the urgency of dealing with the high-level nuclear waste and informs the debate between the nuclear industry and policymakers on the basis of objective data and quantitative analysis.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Nuclear and radioactivity studies · Graphite, nuclear technology, radiation studies · Risk Perception and Management
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
TU Berlin, Workgroup for Economic and Infrastructure Policy, 10623 Berlin, Germany
DIW Berlin, Energy, Transport, and Environment, 10117 Berlin, Germany
References (40)
Show source-provided references
1. Wealer, B., Czempinski, V., von Hirschhausen, C., and Wegel, S. (2017). Nuclear Energy Policy in the United States: Between Rocks and Hard Places, IAEE Energy Forum Second Quarter 2017, Cleveland, USA.
2. NRC (2019, March 15). Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Available online: https://www.nrc.gov.
3. Wrestling with the Hydra of Nuclear Waste Storage in the United States10.1016/j.tej.2013.01.008 ↗
4. BRC (2019, March 15). Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future: Report to the Secretary of Energy, Available online: https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2013/04/f0/brc_finalreport_jan2012.pdf.
5. Jänsch, E., Möckel, C., and Zalm, J. (2016). Rückbau von Atomkraftwerken und Endlagerung Radioaktiver Abfälle in Deutschland—Eine Analyse potenzieller Organisationsmodelle. [Seminar Thesis, Technische Universität Berlin].
6. Can Sisyphus Succeed? Getting U.S. High-Level Nuclear Waste into a Geological Repository10.1111/risa.12003 ↗
7. Fowler, C.S., Hamby, M., Rusco, E., and Rusco, M. (2019, March 15). Native Americans and Yucca Mountain. Available online: http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/library/se-039-91v1.pdf.
8. Cochran, T.B., Paine, C.E., Fettus, G., Norris, R.S., and McKinzie, M.G. (2019, June 13). Position Paper: Commercial Nuclear Power. Available online: https://fas.org/nuke/norris/power.pdf.
9. Alley, W.M., and Alley, R. (2013). Too Hot to Touch: The Problem of High-Level Nuclear Waste, Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781139343176 ↗
10. Fire in the Hole: A Review of National Spent Nuclear Fuel Disposal Policy10.1016/j.pnucene.2008.09.004 ↗
11. World Nuclear Association (2019, March 15). Radioactive Waste Management. Available online: http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-wastes/radioactive-waste-management.aspx.
12. Orszag, P.R. (2019, March 15). Costs of Reprocessing Versus Directly Disposing of Spent Nuclear Fuel, Available online: https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/ftpdocs/88xx/doc8808/11-14-nuclearfuel.pdf.
13. Spent nuclear fuel policies in historical perspective: An international comparison10.1016/j.enpol.2008.09.043 ↗
14. Lovins, A.B., Lovins, L.H., and Ross, L. (1980). Nuclear Power and Nuclear Bombs. Foreign Aff., 58, Available online: https://rmi.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_Nuclear-Power-and-Nuclear-Bombs-Foreign-Affairs.pdf.
15. Jarrell, J., Joseph, R., Howard, R., Petersen, G., Cumberland, R., Nutt, M., Carter, J., and Cotton, T. (2019, March 15). Cost Implications of an Interim Storage Facility in the Waste Management System, Available online: https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2017/03/f34/ISF%20Cost%20Implications_final_rev1.pdf.
16. Werner, J.D. (2012). Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage, Congressional Research Service.
17. NEI (2019, March 15). Nuclear Energy Institute. Available online: https://www.nei.org.
18. Schneider, M., Froggatt, A., Hazemann, J., Katsuta, T., Ramana, M.V., Rodriguze, J.C., Rüdinger, A., and Stienne, A. (2017). The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2017, A Mycle Schneider Consulting Project.
19. The Economics of a US Civilian Nuclear Phase-Out10.1177/0096340213478000 ↗
20. Schneider, M., Froggatt, A., Hazemann, J., Fairlie, I., Katsuta, T., Maltini, F., and Ramana, M.V. (2016). The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2016, A Mycle Schneider Consulting Project.
21. Holt, M. (2019, June 13). Available online: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=9&ved=2ahUKEwjkltfSv-fiAhUE7aYKHSIKA54QFjAIegQIARAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Ffas.org%2Fsgp%2Fcrs%2Fmisc%2FRL33461.pdf&usg=AOvVaw0gSTd79S2wMfI80_36xiR6.
22. DOE (2019, March 15). Department of Energy: Strategy for the Management and Disposal of Used Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste, Available online: https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2013%201-15%20Nuclear_Waste_Report.pdf.
23. Toward a viable nuclear waste disposal program10.1016/j.enpol.2010.12.010 ↗
24. Brunnengräber, A., Di Nucci, M., Isidoro Losada, A., Mez, L., and Schreurs, M.E. (2015). Nuclear Waste Governance: An International Comparison, Springer.10.1007/978-3-658-08962-7 ↗
25. Shifting strategies and precarious progress: Nuclear waste management in Canada10.1016/j.enpol.2013.05.085 ↗
26. Neumann, W. (2010). Nuclear Waste Management in the European Union: Growing Volumes and No Solution, Intac, The Greens/EFA in the European Parliament.
27. Scherwath, T., Wealer, B., and Mendelevitch, R. (2019). Nuclear Decommissioning after the German Nuclear Phase-Out An. Integrated View on New Regulations and Nuclear Logistics, DIW. DIW Discussion Paper.
28. A world’s dilemma ‘upon which the sun never sets’—The nuclear waste management strategy (part I): Western European Nation States and the United States of America10.1016/j.pnucene.2016.02.012 ↗
29. Nuclear power: Understanding the economic risks and uncertainties10.1016/j.enpol.2010.03.005 ↗
30. An Analysis of Development and Research on Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing10.1016/j.enpol.2010.09.040 ↗
31. Nuclear waste management: An application of the multicriteria PROMETHEE methods10.1016/0377-2217(90)90308-X ↗
32. Computing k-shortest path for nuclear spent fuel highway transportation10.1016/0377-2217(91)90093-B ↗
33. NRC (2019, March 15). Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement on Handling and Storage of Spent Light Water Power Reactor Fuel. Available online: https://ac.els-cdn.com/S0195925582800097/1-s2.0-S0195925582800097-main.pdf?_tid=63ac58e8-042f-11e8-b0bc-00000aab0f02&acdnat=1517146402_22e7964e79c81b40fb1a9186eef181f0.
34. Kudryavtsev, E. (2019, March 15). Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel. Available online: http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Meetings/PDFplus/2014/cn219/Presentations/12EKudryavtsev.pdf.
35. Clemmer, S., Richardson, J., Sattler, S., and Lochbaum, D. (2018). The Nuclear Power Dilemma: Declining Profits, Plant Closures, and the Threat of Rising Carbon Emissions, Union of Concerned Scientists.
36. Rachow, J.W. (2018, January 28). The Growing Problem of Spent Nuclear Fuel. Available online: http://www.psr.org/environment-and-health/environmental-health-policy-institute/responses/the-growing-problem-of-spent-nuclear-fuel.html.
37. (2019, March 15). Eureka County Yucca Mountain Information Office. Available online: http://www.yuccamountain.org/index.htm.
38. Feizollahi, F., Shropshire, D., and Burton, D. (2019, March 15). Waste Management Facilities Cost Information for Transportation of Radioactive and Hazardous Materials. Available online: http://www.iaea.org/inis/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/27/031/27031625.pdf.
39. Bunn, M., Fetter, S., Holdren, J.P., and van der Zwaan, B. (2019, March 15). The Economics of Reprocessing versus Direct Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel. Available online: https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/30209100/Bunn_The_Economics_of_Reprocessing_vs_Direct_Disposal_of_Spent_Nuclear_Fuel.pdf?sequence=1.
40. Aubert, G., Billes-Garabedian, L., Barracco, T., Peters, R., and Seshadri, P. (2019, March 15). Economic Assesment of Used Nuclear Fuel Management in the United States. Available online: https://www.bcg.com/publications/2006/energy-environment-economic-assessment-used-nuclear-fuel.aspx.