사용후 핵연료 재처리 정책의 변화와 그 요인들

Abstract

The spent nuclear fuel management can disclose the decision making structure of the nuclear power generation system. Disposal and reprocessing are two options. Disposal of the spent fuel as a nuclear waste raises many domestic issues such as where to bury it, which technology to choose and how to persuade local people. Reprocessing is the technology to gain some radioactive materials from the spent fuel, which was originally developed to provide plutonium for atomic bombs during the World War II. Reprocessing costs a lot, but it can turn the spent fuel into a new potential fuel, plutonium for some specially designed reactors. Therefore, the spent nuclear fuel management is a complex problem that is interrelated with the aspects of the nuclear armament, international military relations, energy programs, the cost and benefits of plutonium and social and environmental movements. This paper aims to examine the historical changes of the spent nuclear fuel policies in the UK, France, Germany, and the US in a comparative perspective. All of these countries chose or preferred to the reprocessing in the 1950s and early 1960s. Since the 1970s, however, the spent nuclear fuel policies have been modified many times for different reasons. As the result, these 4 countries have different spent nuclear fuel policies for the present ranging from the permanent disposal to sticking to reprocessing. The reasons or rationales for the spent nuclear fuel management, the decision making mechanisms, and the impacts and new issues of the policy changes in each country are discussed to understand the features of the nuclear power system.