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The State of Reprocessing in 1999
This paper was published in the WISE News communique Number 506 in February 1999 and is reproduced with their permission and our thanks
Introduction
The reprocessing industry is concentrated in a few countries. However, the industry's impact (environmental pollution) is world-wide. But this time we're not focusing on environmental issues. Below you will find an overview of reprocessing plants and their contracts. The focus in this overview is on reprocessing of Light-Water Reactor (LWR) spent fuel. At the end of 1998 the total world-wide amount of spent fuel produced by civil nuclear reactors was about 18,000 metric tons heavy metal, annual spent fuel arisings are at the moment about 10,500 tons. Only one fifth of all civil spent fuel has been reprocessed.Reprocessing plants with a total annual production capacity of about 4,000 tonnes of spent fuel are in operation. The amount of separated plutonium (in civil reprocessing plants) by the end of 1998 was about 255,000 kilo.
South Korea decided not to reprocess last year. A parliamentary discussion will take place in the Netherlands about further reprocessing this spring (1999). Construction of reprocessing plants inside Germany had been planned for several decades and was finally started at Wackersdorf. However, due to heavy protests the plant was cancelled. In the UK the government decided to close the reprocessing plant (for research reactor fuel) at Dounreay by 2006. [ Note from N-Base - this is not quite right. The government banned new commercial work in the main mixed oxide plant and the research reactor fuel plant is closed for safety reasons and is unlikely to re-open due to lack of work. See main N-Base pages for more details]
France
The last Magnox reprocessing plant in Marcoule was closed in 1997. Two large, oxide-fuel reprocessing plants each with +/-800 metric tons/year are now operating at La Hague at full capacity: UP2-800 and UP3. After 2000 the production capacity will decrease from 1,600 tons/yr to 1,3001,400 tons/yr, due to higher fuel burn-up. A total of 17,000 tons of spent fuel was contracted until 2002, of which 13,500 tons was reprocessed at the end of 1998. For the period after 2002, only 1,840 tons is contracted. Production in 1998 at UP2-800 was 811 tons of French spent fuel, at UP3 822 tons of foreign fuel were reprocessed. Operation of UP2-800 started in 1992, and UP3 in 1990. Reprocessing costs for EDF are only US$540/kg, foreign customers pay more than twice the EDF price: US$1130/kgFrench Reprocessing Contracts
UP2:
France: Contracts with the national utility EDF for 850 tons a year run until 2000. No agreement has yet been reached for the post-2000 period, but negotiations between Cogema and EDF continue.UP3:
Germany: German contracts concluded in the late 1970s made up a 'significant part of UP3 capacity': about 3,100 tons, of which 2,200 tons is already reprocessed. Some 370 tons remain to be shipped to La Hague. German contracts concluded in the 1990s are the only post-2000 contracts, except 'a very small one with the Borssele reactor in the Netherlands'. They amount to 2,000-3,000 tons and were valued at US$650 million. Some 1,800 tons of this are to be delivered to La Hague.Japan: A total of 2,869 tons of spent fuel was contracted through 2002. There is no commitment yet for post-2000 reprocessing. The utilities are now beginning to realise a mixed spent fuel strategy, which includes interim storage of spent fuel.
Belgium: A 1991 contract for 225 tons from the Tihange reactor was cancelled in December 1998, as were options for a total of 1,800 tons of spent fuel from three Tihange and four Doel reactors over 15 years.
Netherlands: There is a contract to reprocess 219 tons of spent fuel from Borssele until 2002. The Dutch Parliament will discuss reprocessing contracts in the spring of 1999.
Switzerland: Contracts amount to 5 10 tons of fuel.
United Kingdom
The British reprocessing industry is in a deep crisis: both reprocessing plants at Sellafield suffer from repeated closures, due to leaks and other problems, like higher than permitted emissions of radio-isotopes such as Technetium-99. Owner and operator of the plants is British Nuclear Fuel Limited (BNFL), a 100% state-owned company. All British nuclear utilities have contracts with BNFL for the reprocessing of their spent fuel for the next 10 years. BNFL operates two reprocessing plants:
The B-205 plant, with a production capacity of about 1,500 tons
a year. This plant reprocesses the spent fuel from all Magnox reactors.
It started operation in 1964 and is scheduled to be closed in 2014. Current
throughput is about 500 ton/yr. The Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant
(THORP) with a nominal production capacity of 1,200 metric tons/yr.
It started partial operation in 1993. It was licensed in 1997 for full
commercial operation. As published in the last issue of the WISE News
Communique, THORP isn't functioning very well. [See N-Base Latest News
pages]
The reprocessing costs are about: US$1635/kg spent fuel (£1090/kg). The total THORP orderbook is +/- £12 billion (US$18 bn) over its first 16 years, says BNFL. National contracts are concluded for spent fuel from the Sizewell-B reactor and from all AGR reactors.
UK's Foreign Reprocessing Contracts
Germany: About 10 per cent of the total orderbook. Contracts from the 1970's and 1980's represent more than 884 tons. The post-2000 contracts, for fuel discharged from 20042014 (703 tons, valued at US$750 million), were threatened. In 1994 German utilities cancelled post-2000 contracts for 550 tons. [See N-Base Latest News for German government's attempts to stop reprocessing contracts]Japan: Until 2004 a total of 2,673 tons of spent fuel.
Switzerland: Reprocessing of about 420 tons of spent fuel is contracted for.
Netherlands: Spent fuel from the now closed Dodewaard reactor, about 53 tons.
Spain: A contract has been signed for reprocessing of 145 tons of spent fuel
Sweden: In 1997 Sweden's utility decided to approve reprocessing of 140 tons spent fuel which was already send to England between 1969-1982
Italy: Italy did send 1,588 tons spent fuel to 'foreign reprocessors', but it is unclear which part of it is LWR-fuel. At least 143 tons is contracted with THORP.
Russia
RT1 at Mayak/Chelyabinsk: nominal production capacity of 600 t/yr. Present production level is about 150 t/yr. It started operation in 1978. A total of 3,400 tons of spent fuel from Finland, ex-Soviet Republics and from Central and East European countries was reprocessed until 1994. Plans for attracting Western foreign contracts (see Wise News Communique 505.4977: 'International nuclear waste storage in Russia?'), in combination with storage of wastes were recently announced, in spite of existing laws which forbid storage of foreign nuclear waste. In 1998 it was decided not to complete the reprocessing plant under construction at Krasnoyarsk, due to lack of money. Its design production capacity was 1,500 t/yr.India
Several medium-sized reprocessing plants are built. Those are part of a nuclear programme aimed at the introduction of fast breeder reactors. The nuclear infrastructure is used for both civil and military purposes.The plant at Tarapur, with 100-150 tons a year production capacity, was opened in 1982. It operates far under its design capacity. Since 1988 it did not operate at all. In 1991 a second plant was started up at Kalpakkam with a capacity of 150 tons/yr. The separated plutonium has been used for nuclear weapons and to fuel a fast breeder reactor. There are no contracts for reprocessing foreign fuel.