Used or spent nuclear fuel resulting from commercial power generation

Used or spent nuclear fuel resulting from commercial power generation 

Just over 20% of the electricity generated in the United States is produced by nuclear power plants. In 1995, 32,200 metric tons of spent fuel, with a total activity of 30,200 MCi, was stored by the electric utilities at 70 sites (either in pools or in dry storage systems) (Ahearne 1997, Richardson 1997). By 2020, the projected inventory will be 77,100 metric tons of heavy metal (MTHM) with a total activity of 34,600 MCi. Although the volume of the spent fuel is only a few percent of the volume of HLW, over 95% of the total activity (defense-related plus commercially generated waste) is associated with the commercially generated spent nuclear fuel (Crowley 1997). At present in the United States, none of the spent fuel will be reprocessed all is destined for direct disposal in a geological repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada (Hanks et al. 1999). 

Plutonium Reprocessiug of speut uuclear fuel and dismantled nuclear weapons 

Under the first and second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties, as well as unilateral pledges made by both the United States and Russia, thousands of nuclear weapons will be dismantled. Initially, this will result in between 70 and 100 metric tons of weapons-related plutonium that will require long-term disposition. The selected disposition strategy (stabilization and storage versus permanent disposal) should not only protect the public and the environment, but must also ensure that the plutonium is not readily recoverable for use in weapons (NRC 1994). The initial U.S. strategy called for 

The interest in phosphate minerals is largely based on their ability to incorporate actinides (Ewing et al. 1995a). In addition to the Pu that results from dismantling nuclear weapons and the plutonium separated during the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel from nuclear power plants, substantial quantities of the minor actinides are generated annually Np (3.4 tons/yr), Am (2.7 tons/yr), and (335 kg/yr). 

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