Nuclear Fuel Recycling Unnecessary Amid Plentiful Supplies, MIT Study Says

ecycling nuclear waste provides little short-term benefit because the process costs too much and uranium supplies remain plentiful, according to a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The study released today recommends U.S. financial incentives to build seven to 10 nuclear plants, create a quasi- government group to direct policy and consider leasing fuel to countries to reduce fears that dangerous components will end up with terrorists.
“To enable an expansion of nuclear power, it must overcome critical challenges in cost, waste disposal, and proliferation concerns while maintaining its currently excellent safety and reliability record,” according to the report.
The study, the third since 2003 on nuclear power by the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based university, examines how the U.S. might best deal with an increase in radioactive waste if the industry’s awaited renaissance takes off.
Areva SA, the world’s biggest maker of reactors, has lobbied for reusing waste as a partial solution to long-term storage concerns. Meanwhile, a commission created by the Energy Department is studying how best to dispose of the waste after the Obama administration withdrew support for Yucca Mountain in Nevada as a dump site.
The study says nuclear proponents are assuming that limited supplies will force the U.S. to reuse some portion of the spent nuclear fuel.
“There is no shortage of uranium resources that might constrain future commitments to build new nuclear plants for at least much of this century, and scientifically sound methods exist to manage spent nuclear fuel,” according to the study.