A review of radioactive waste processing and disposal from a life cycle environmental perspective

Abstract

AbstractThe role of nuclear power in a more sustainable, ‘net zero’ energy sector is an important focal point of research. Given the large volume of existing legacy wastes and the future waste arisings that nuclear expansion would entail, attention is needed in the ‘back-end’ of the nuclear fuel cycle: processing (including treatment and conditioning) and disposal of radioactive waste. The range of waste processing techniques already in operation is broad and complex, and many novel technologies are under development. However, whilst prior work only focused on technology development and direct emissions, particularly in post-processing and disposal, a life cycle perspective is underutilised. This review analyses the landscape of life cycle assessment (LCA) within the nuclear sector, focusing on radioactive waste management, decommissioning and disposal. A literature search yielded 225 journal articles plus additional grey literature, yet only eight relevant LCAs were identified. Most studies identified adopted power generation as a functional unit and focused on nuclear power plants currently in operation. The major research gap identified in this review is the lack of holistic life cycle thinking surrounding radioactive waste management caused by poor granularity of published data related to waste treatment, conditioning and disposal, making strategic analysis challenging from the perspective of sustainability. Future LCA work should focus on technologies and processes in the back-end nuclear fuel cycle with considerable granularity to allow system ‘hotspots’ to be identified and strategic research and policy decisions to be taken. Efforts should also be made to incorporate recent developments in radiological impact assessment methodologies such as UCrad. Graphical abstract