The massive costs of disposing of spent nuclear fuel

Contrary to power company figures, cost of nuclear power generation highest: research, Mainichi daily News, 23 July 11 “……There’s also a problem that’s specific to nuclear energy. As Oshima points out, massive amounts of money are needed to dispose of spent nuclear fuel, of which there are two options. There is what’s called direct disposal, which entails burying the used fuel underground. The other option is to reprocess and reuse the spent fuel in a process known as a nuclear fuel-cycle. Japan’s current nuclear policy aspires to the latter by using a fast-breeder reactor to burn spent plutonium and uranium, but such a reactor has not yet reached commercial viability. “Pluthermal” power generation, or the burning of MOX fuel made from a combination of plutonium and uranium in existing reactors is being conducted for the time being.

In 2003, the FEPC submitted an estimate for the total cost of treating nuclear waste to the aforementioned subcommittee of the Committee for Natural Resources and Energy. The amount: 18.8 trillion yen. Of that total, 11 trillion yen was allotted for the actual reprocessing, 2.5 trillion yen to the disposal of highly radioactive waste produced during reprocessing, and 1.1 trillion yen to MOX fuel processing. The cost of reprocessing is already included in utility bills, but Oshima does not think this will suffice.

“Some expenses, such as that of reprocessing MOX fuel, have been left out,” Oshima points out. “Moreover, the costs for the reprocessing plant that was built in the Aomori Prefecture village of Rokkasho are calculated on the assumption that it will run at 100-percent capacity, but looking at cases abroad, such a thing is impossible. Since just half of spent fuel will be reprocessed there, the total cost will actually be twice as much as the 11 trillion yen that has been estimated.–

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/features/news/20110723p2a00m0na011000c.html

July 23, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, reprocessing, wastes

1 Comment »

Hey Nuclearnews,
Neat Post, This has to be 1-2 par
Many high-technology companies, like Nortel Networks, Micron Technology and JDS Uniphase, have written down massive amounts of their inventory. For example, Nortel Networks revalued some of its inventory parts at $0, though the inventory initially cost Nortel $650 million.

Companies are required to report whether they write off the cost value (or book value) or their inventory even if they do not dispose of the inventory. Later on, they may sell this inventory but are not required to report the sale for cash of previously “worthless” inventory. The effect may be that in future years, when the inventory is sold, profits are overstated.

Also in the article, JDS Uniphase said it will write off $250 million of its inventory but promised to disclose any future sale. On the other hand, Micron Technology, which wrote down $260 million, won’t disclose any future sale (Krantz, 2001). Should the Securities and Exchange Commission do anything? Why?
Thx.

Comment by Fuel treatment | December 11, 2011 | Reply

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