International Developments in Spent-Fuel Management

At the end of 2003, 440 nuclear reactors were operating in thirtyone countries worldwide, supply. More than 10,000 metric tons of heavy metal (tHM) are unloaded from these reactors each year, with annual discharges increasing to ~11,500 tHM by 2010. Since less than one-third is reprocessed, about 8,000 tHM/year on average will need to be placed into interim storage facilities. 1 providing 16 percent of the global electricity