Environmental impact of advanced management of spent nuclear fuel on permanent disposal of high level waste in Korea

The current policy for the ultimate management of spent nuclear fuel in Korea is “wait and see.” However, many R&D subjects such as direct disposal, partitioning and transmutation and the advanced management of spent nuclear fuel are being studied. The advanced management of spent nuclear fuel process focuses on two issues of permanent disposal: minimization of a repository area and reduction of the probabilities of fatal risks. The advanced management of spent nuclear fuel process removes heat sources such as Sr and Cs. It significantly reduces the repository area. Also, it halts the instantaneous release of volatile nuclides. In turn, dissolution rates of nuclides from an ingot are limited by that of a matrix form, which significantly reduces probabilities of fatal risks. Reduction of a repository area and potential post closure risks are a major benefit of advanced management of spent nuclear fuel. In the future, a more detailed study on environmental impact and economical benefit will be performed.