Cov-Safety Nuclear FuelCyc 3588 10/10/05 16:04 Page 1 Nuclear Safety The Safety of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle NUCLEAR•ENERGY•AGENCY Nuclear Safety The Safety of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Third edition © OECD 2005 NEA No. 3588 NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT The OECD is a unique forum where the governments of 30 democracies work together to address the economic, social and environmental challenges of globalisation. The OECD is also at the forefront of efforts to understand and to help governments respond to new developments and concerns, such as corporate governance, the information economy and the challenges of an ageing population. The Organisation provides a setting where governments can compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practice and work to co-ordinate domestic and international policies. The OECD member countries are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Commission of the European Communities takes part in the work of the OECD. OECD Publishing disseminates widely the results of the Organisation’s statistics gathering and research on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as the conventions, guidelines and standards agreed by its members. * * * This work is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Organisation or of the governments of its member countries. NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) was established on 1st February 1958 under the name of the OEEC European Nuclear Energy Agency. It received its present designation on 20th April 1972, when Japan became its first non-European full member. NEA membership today consists of 28 OECD member countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Korea, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Commission of the European Communities also takes part in the work of the Agency. The mission of the NEA is: to assist its member countries in maintaining and further developing, through international co-operation, the scientific, technological and legal bases required for a safe, environmentally friendly and economical use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, as well as to provide authoritative assessments and to forge common understandings on key issues, as input to government decisions on nuclear energy policy and to broader OECD policy analyses in areas such as energy and sustainable development. Specific areas of competence of the NEA include safety and regulation of nuclear activities, radioactive waste management, radiological protection, nuclear science, economic and technical analyses of the nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear law and liability, and public information. The NEA Data Bank provides nuclear data and computer program services for participating countries. In these and related tasks, the NEA works in close collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, with which it has a Co-operation Agreement, as well as with other international organisations in the nuclear field. © OECD 2005 No reproduction, copy, transmission or translation of this publication may be made without written permission. Applications should be sent to OECD Publishing: [email protected] or by fax (+33-1) 45 24 13 91. Permission to photocopy a portion of this work should be addressed to the Centre Français d’exploitation du droit de Copie, 20 rue des Grands Augustins, 75006 Paris, France ([email protected]). FOREWORD The present edition of The Safety of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle has been prepared by the Working Group on Operating Experience (WGOE) Subgroup on Fuel Cycle Safety (FCS) under the auspices of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI). The main mission of WGOE/FCS is to advance the understanding of licensing systems, safety philosophy and safety standards for nuclear fuel cycle facilities in NEA member countries. In pursuing this goal, the group exchanges information, identifies critical safety issues and indicates areas where further research or analysis is needed, while periodically reviewing and prioritising fuel cycle safety issues. The original publication was issued in 1981. Member countries undertook to revise and update the report and a new edition was published in 1993. The current edition represents the most up-to-date analysis of the safety aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, and replaces the two previous editions. DISCLAIMER: The reader is cautioned that should there be any discrepancies between the English and French versions of this publication, the English takes precedence as the original text. The NEA Secretariat wishes to acknowledge the specific services of Dr. Denwood Ross and Mr. Jacques Simonnet who, as expert consultants, provided much of the in-depth technical analysis provided throughout the report as well as many hours of their time editing and compiling the final report. The following WGOE/FCS members also provided meaningful input to various chapters of the report as well as their valuable time at meetings to review and improve the overall contents of the report: Jean-Paul Minon, ONDRAF/NIRAS, Belgium Jafir Jaferi, CNSC, Canada Dorothée Conte, DGSNR, France Gérard Fraize, IRSN, France Sachio Fujine, JAERI, Japan Masashi Kanamori, JNC, Japan Shingo Matsuoka, JNFL, Japan Yoshinori Ueda, JNES, Japan Martin Gaffney, BNFL, United Kingdom Peter Watson, NII, United Kingdom Robert Pierson, NRC, United States The experts listed below kindly made various written contributions, provided comments and assisted in the final edition of the report: Henri Drymael, AVN, Belgium Barclay Howden, CNSC, Canada Rick McCabe, CNSC, Canada Josef Belac, NRI, Czech Republic 3 Henri Pailleux, COGEMA, France Vincent Pertuis, DGSNR, France Jean-Luc Voitellier, MELOX, France Valéry Ziegler, retired, France Karl Gelpke, BfS, Germany Wolf-Juergen Weber, GRS, Germany Fancesco P. Michetti, APAT, Italy Hiroshi Tsuboi, NISA, Japan Young-Woo Lee, KAERI, Korea Consuelo Alejano Monge, CSN, Spain Jose Manuel Conde Lopez, CSN, Spain Andrew Buchan, BNFL, United Kingdom John Nobbs, BNFL, United Kingdom Guy Owen, UKAEA, United Kingdom Vanice Perin, NRC, United States Pierre Nocture, Observer, IAEA This report represents the views of the task force and does not necessarily reflect those of the OECD or its member countries. It is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword ........................................................................................................................................ 3 List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ 10 List of Tables.................................................................................................................................. 12 Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................ 13 1. Introduction...................................................................................................................... 13 2. Executive summary.......................................................................................................... 14 Chapter 2. THE NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE ............................................................................. 19 1. Nuclear fuel cycle activities............................................................................................. 19 2. Status of the various fuel cycle segments ........................................................................ 22 2.1 Uranium mining and milling.................................................................................. 22 2.2 Uranium refining and conversion.......................................................................... 26 2.3 Enrichment............................................................................................................. 29 2.4 Fuel manufacture................................................................................................... 32 2.5 Spent fuel storage................................................................................................... 39 2.6 Spent fuel reprocessing.......................................................................................... 40 2.7 Radioactive waste management............................................................................. 48 2.8 On-site interim storage of waste............................................................................ 52 2.9 Transportation ....................................................................................................... 56 2.10 Decommissioning................................................................................................... 57 3. 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