How much does it cost to recycle nuclear waste?

reprocessing and direct disposal. A study by the Boston Consulting Group esti- mates that reprocessing spent nuclear fuel would cost $585 per kilogram—or about 6 percent more than direct disposal.

How much nuclear waste is there?

More than a quarter million metric tons of highly radioactive waste sits in storage near nuclear power plants and weapons production facilities worldwide, with over 90,000 metric tons in the US alone.

What is the best method for nuclear waste disposal?

The most currently-used method for nuclear waste disposal is storage, either using steel cylinders as radioactive shield or using deep and stable geologic formations. However, the disposal of nuclear waste by storage still has many concern, since the leakage of the nuclear waste may cause huge environmental disaster.

How is low-level radioactive waste (LLW) disposed of?

Most low-level radioactive waste (LLW) is typically sent to land-based disposal immediately following its packaging for long-term management. This means that for the majority (~90\% by volume) of all of the waste types produced by nuclear technologies, a satisfactory disposal means has been developed and is being implemented around the world.

Is there a licence for disposal of used nuclear waste?

The only purpose-built deep geological repository that is currently licensed for disposal of nuclear material is the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in the USA, but it does not have a licence for disposal of used fuel or HLW.

What is the volume of high-level radioactive waste?

The volume of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) produced by the civil nuclear industry is small. The IAEA estimates that 370,000 tonnes of heavy metal (tHM) in the form of used fuel have been discharged since the first nuclear power plants commenced operation.