Transparency in the Back End of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle

 

 

 

 

 

 

After nuclear fuel is "burned" for 12-18 months in a reactor, it is discharged as "spent fuel."  Spent fuel is either waste or the source of plutonium to make "mixed oxide fuel" (MOX), depending on whether a system follows a "once through" or "recycling" plan.
Recycling also generates waste. 

Transparency can help demonstrate safe disposal of waste and the peaceful use of plutonium.  A commitment to transparency encourages nuclear institutions to perform at the highest levels of safety and with greatest awareness of responsibilities for peaceful uses.

Transparency Measures



Virtual Tours
  Underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plan at Carlsbad, New Mexico
 
JNFL Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Center at Rokkasho, Aomori, Japan. Link to Federation of Electric Power Companies.
 


JNFL Vitrified Waste Storage Center at Rokkasho, Aomori, Japan. Link to Federation of Electric Power Companies
 


At Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site in Nevada engineers test the thermal effects of simulated spent fuel on the rock in an underground tunnel. Video Tours can allow viewers to follow a tunnel inspection just as the Yucca Mountain engineers do. This transparency method can help build public acceptance and create a credible technical basis for disposal of spent fuel in the geologic repository.

 

Video and Environmental Sensors at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

 

Annual Reports on Back End Activities and Materials 

Japan
Hokkaido Electric Fuel Assemblies Reprocessing Waste Storage .
Tohoku Electric Fuel Assemblies Reprocessing Waste Storage .
Tokyo Electric Fuel Assemblies Reprocessing Waste Storage Returns from Reprocessing
Hokuriku Electric Fuel Assemblies Reprocessing Waste Storage .
Kansai Electric . Reprocessing Waste Storage Returns from Reprocessing
Chugoku Electric Fuel Assemblies Reprocessing Waste Storage .
Shikoku Electric Fuel Assemblies . Waste Storage .
Kyushu Electric Fuel Assemblies . Waste Storage .
Japan Atomic . . Waste Storage .

Taiwan

Taipower Backend Management Department

United States