Radiation Balance in Nuclear Power Growth with BREST-1200 and VVÉR-1000 Reactors

The role of irradiated VVER-1000 and RBMK-1000 fuel and irradiated fuel from foreign PWRs in the strategy for growth of future nuclear power production up to 300 GW using BREST-1200 reactors as the main component is examined. The growth time up to 300 GW varies in different variants from 90 to 180 yr. Analysis of the dependence of the potential biological hazard of the wastes on the holding period, taking account of the migrational characteristics, taken by comparing the retainment coefficients of elements in rocks, shows that the time for reaching a balance between the potential biological hazard of the wastes and the raw materials at the end of the period of growth of nuclear power production lies in the range 1–1.5 thousand years. The time to reach radiation equivalence is short at the initial stages of growth and increases gradually; this requires gradual improvement of the fuel reprocessing technology with fewer elements going into the wastes.