Although commonly considered "waste," spent nuclear fuel contains untapped energy, accessible through advanced technologies that are rapidly coming to the fore. These innovations can revolutionize how we view nuclear waste, while also addressing the political issues that have hindered how we manage it.

The Waste "Issue"

Even as innovators are developing new designs, concepts, and applications that could fundamentally change nuclear technology in the very near future, perceptions of nuclear energy continue to be shadowed by the past. Arguments against nuclear power range from concerns about safety to construction and operating costs. Of these, the most frequently recurring objection is nuclear waste. However, spent nuclear fuel coming from conventional nuclear plants actually contains significant energy potential. Though mostly inaccessible through traditional light-water reactor technologies, the energy contained within spent fuel can be unleashed through recycling the material and using it in advanced fast-neutron reactors. Not only can fast reactors extract more energy from uranium resources, they can also reduce the volume, heat, and radiotoxicity of products for final disposal

"According to nuclear waste experts, the success of the Finnish repository program is due in part to how it was presented to the people who would be most affected by it."

The Politics of Waste

With the suspension of the Yucca Mountain repository, our stockpile of commercial spent fuel remains scattered at power plants throughout the country, much of it stored in dry casks -- essentially, hardened steel and concrete canisters that contain radioactivity. It would be preferable to have a consensus national policy, backed by local support, through which this material can be consolidated -- whether permanently in a geological repository or temporarily in interim storage sites. However, the current practice of storing spent fuel in dry casks has been quite robust and a secure means of protecting the public from radiation exposure.

The effectiveness of these casks has lessened the government's urgency to address the impasse over Yucca Mountain and find a long-term solution -- an irony highlighting nuclear waste as more of a political issue than a technical one. For example, other countries (such as Finland) have made significant strides towards the siting and construction of underground disposal facilities. According to nuclear waste experts, the success of the Finnish repository program "is due in part to how it was presented to the people who would be most affected by it. Each community under consideration as a repository location was consulted and promised veto power should it be selected."

In contrast, the process of sitting Yucca Mountain did not proceed with full buy-in from the State of Nevada and other stakeholders, resulting in the morass we find ourselves in today.

"...in recent years, there have been rapid advancements in fast-neutron reactor technologies capable of using waste as fuel."

The Innovation Imperative

To encourage progress on managing nuclear waste, the US Department of Energy (DOE) is now pursuing an alternative path forward on spent fuel that circumvents Yucca Mountain -- a consent-based approach following recommendations made in 2012 by the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future (BRC), citing both historical and international case studies.

Boiled down, a consent-based strategy seeks volunteer hosts for waste management facilities. One potential selling point for host communities may be closely linked to advanced nuclear technologies that are now nearing reality.

The 2012 BRC report stated that no foreseeable reactor or recycling technologies would be available "to fundamentally alter the waste management challenge…" However, in recent years, there have been rapid advancements in fast-neutron reactor technologies capable of using waste as fuel. There are presently a number of developers close to demonstrating and deploying these so-called fast reactors, including TerraPower and Oklo.

Furthermore, spent fuel recycling is emerging as a focus for federally-sponsored R&D initiatives. In May, DOE announced a new program at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy called "Optimizing Nuclear Waste and Advanced Reactor Disposal Systems" (ONWARDS) that would seek to improve the efficiency and security of recycling technologies, with a focus on advanced reactor fuel cycles.

"Advanced reactors not only hold promise to be superior on waste, but are also safer, more economical, and more secure."

Ultimately, opening a pathway to accessing the latent value of spent fuel could make hosting "waste" disposal or storage facilities more attractive for potential host communities, thereby facilitating consent-based siting. Even if industrial-scale recycling is not realized in the short term, communities could still derive economic benefits and job creation from the siting of R&D facilities, advanced reactor pilots and demonstrations, etc. In the end, these benefits can more than just facilitate consent -- they can make it more durable.

The Bigger Picture

Advanced reactors not only hold promise to be superior on waste, but are also safer, more economical, and more secure. With too little awareness made about these emerging innovations that should alter our core conceptions of this energy source, nuclear power continues to fly under the radar in conversations about climate change and clean energy.
It is important to note that these advanced nuclear technologies are not theoretical, far-off ideas. Technological progress should force us -- and our government -- to continually reevaluate our beliefs and presumptions. We must not remain shackled to outdated notions about nuclear energy at a time when the hard work of developers and innovators is at the cusp of bearing fruit.