Challenge of transmutation of long-lived nuclides

Transmutation of radioactive nuclides into stable or short-lived ones has been under discussion as a measure to deal with the wastes of nuclear technology since its very beginning. There has been a lot of research activities world-wide with various approaches to transmuter design, matrix for waste incorporation and end waste form. This diversity comes from differently formulated transmutation priorities which, in their turn, originated in differently formulated strategy for development of nuclear fuel cycles. The present paper aims at surveying the goals of waste transmutation in view of trends identified in the past decade and address some new characteristics for estimating its radiological cost.