Economic Analysis of the Management of the Nuclear Spent Fuel in Spain

This study aims to analyze the economic and technical viability for either nuclear fuel reprocessing or permanent storage in Spain. Utilizing various international studies regarding nuclear fuel reprocessing, this study reaches an objective conclusion while taking into consideration the various variable and stable costs for the open and closed cycles. A sensitivity analysis was then introduced which identifies the most influential parameters in the final price. This analysis is essential in understanding the results obtained and emphasizes the need to specify a range of costs for both cycles and to see what factors affect these results. The sensitivity analysis describes the factors that play a large role in determining costs and will display the range of values that arise from the variability of costs for those factors. The uncertainty analysis compares the nominal values used in this study and describes how these values are likely to change with time resulting in a range of values for both cycles. 1. Introduction Nowadays the cost of electricity from nuclear energy is highly competitive compared to other sources of energy. But we have to take into account that depending on the type of fuel cycle considered the final cost will vary. Because of this, determining the costs associated with each cycle option is essential in order to make the final decision of what to do with the irradiated fuel. In Europe there are two countries, Sweden and Finland, that have chosen to use an open cycle and they have developed programs to build deep geological repositories (DGR) for the used fuel elements. On the other hand, there are two countries in Europe, France and the United Kingdom, with facilities that reprocess the nuclear fuel. However, those two countries are not the only ones that reprocess the used nuclear fuel in Europe. There are other countries, such as the Netherlands, that have made the decision of a closed nuclear fuel cycle. Spain is among those countries that have not yet come to a final decision related to the management of the used fuel. Those countries that delayed the decision on the final destination of the used fuel are currently storing it in temporary facilities, waiting for a final decision. In Spain, the absence of a final decision has created the need for temporary solutions. The key in the Spanish used fuel management strategy is the centralized temporary storage facility (Almacén Temporal Centralizado, ATC). Meant to receive the used fuel and high level waste from the Spanish nuclear power plants, its location was approved on December 30,