Fire in the hole: A review of national spent nuclear fuel disposal policy

Today, nuclear power plants operate in 31 countries and account for approximately 15% of the world's electricity production. Moreover, a number of additional reactors are expected to come on-line over the next several years as a result of a global resurgence in nuclear power. Since the amount of spent nuclear fuel generated by these plants is expected almost to double by 2020, the issue of how to dispose of highly radioactive waste properly is an international concern of growing importance. As of now, no country has yet solved the problem of what to do with the mounting inventories of spent nuclear fuel created as a by-product of nuclear power generation. This article focuses on national approaches for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel, and discusses the need for a global approach to cope adequately with the increasing inventories of highly radioactive waste.