Review of spent nuclear fuel management in different developed countries

Abstract

Spent nuclear fuel (spent fuel), which is used nuclear fuel that has been exposed to radiation usually produced by nuclear reactors in nuclear power plants, is an inevitable product from the development of nuclear energy. Almost all of the fuel content is radioactive, and long systematic process are required for the safety management, which has always been an important global issue. In order to make sure that spent nuclear fuel should be safely managed, different countries developing nuclear power have established a complete policy and legislative system, so as to ensure that the whole process of spent fuel management is systematic, standardized and effective. In developed countries such as France, Russia and Japan, closed-cycle strategy is implemented with industrial-scale reprocessing plant under construction or in operation. At present, China has become the country with the largest scale of nuclear power under construction in the world. There will be a large number of spent nuclear fuel requiring properly and safely managed. The lessons-learning of how developed countries managing spent nuclear fuel arising is important for China. The authors suggest that it is necessary to combine the top-level design to the legal practice, so that there are laws to respect during all steps of spent fuel management, and responsibilities of all parties are clear.