Nuclear waste partitioning and transmutation

The long-term (>1000 years) hazard of radioactive waste emplaced in a geologic repository could be reduced by separating the most significant long-lived radionuclides and transmitting them to stable products by bombardment with neutrons in power reactors. A cost-risk-benefit analysis of this concept shows that, while it is technically feasible to partition and transmute the principal long-lived constituents, there are no cost-risk-benefit incentives that can be identified. The cost of partitioning and transmuting the actinide elements is estimated to be $9.2 million/GW(electric) X yr (1.28 mill/kWh(electric)). The short-term radiological risk is increased by 0.003 health-effect/GW(electric) X yr, and the expected long-term benefit (i.e., incremental risk reduction from a repository) is 0.06 health-effect/GW(electric) X yr integrated over 1 million years. The latter is only about 0.001% of the health-effects expected from natural background radiation and is equivalent to $32,400 per person-rem saved. If nonradiological risks are included, the short-term risk actually exceeds the long-term benefits.