Legal assessment evaluates waste streams in nuclear fuel cycle to ensure compliance, suggesting necessary revisions.
This study evaluates the legal compliance of a nuclear fuel cycle option designed to eliminate the generation of high-level radioactive waste (HLW). Building upon previous research on total waste volume control – which proposed a fuel cycle utilizing 90Sr and 137Cs transmutation to avoid HLW generation – this paper examines how these specific waste streams align with existing legal frameworks. Specifically, the waste streams are analyzed and classified under both the Final Disposal Act and the Reactors Regulation Act. The analysis has identified three novel waste forms generated by this fuel cycle, which currently fall under low-level waste (LLW) and clearance waste classifications. Based on these findings, we recommend specific revisions to the Final Disposal Act to clarify the legal compliance or suitability and resolve classification ambiguities for these new waste streams. Ultimately, this legal assessment, combined with the technical fuel cycle design, provides a necessary framework for evaluating public acceptance of nuclear fuel cycle options.
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Fukaya et al. (2026) studied this question.
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