Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/204656 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Citation: 
[Journal:] Applied Sciences [ISSN:] 2076-3417 [Volume:] 9 [Issue:] 12 [Article No.:] 2437 [Publisher:] MDPI AG [Place:] Basel [Year:] 2019 [Pages:] 1-23
Publisher: 
MDPI AG, Basel
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.
Subjects: 
Nuclear waste disposal policy
Transportation modeling
Interim storage
United States of America
Nuclear energy
Nuclear policy
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
URL of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.