Nuclear Reactor Spent Fuel Valuation: Procedure, Applications, and Analysis.

Description of a procedure to estimate the net present discounted value (PDV) of the benefit incurred when the reprocessed plutonium and uranium contained in spent fuel are recycled, less the PDV of the stream of costs to transport, store, and reprocess the spent fuel and to fabricate, store, and safeguard the new mixed oxide fuel. The present value of spent fuel is highly sensitive to uncertainty in such important factors as yellowcake prices, reprocessing costs, and discount rates. The valuation of spent fuel will arise in the implementation of U.S. policies to reduce the potential for proliferation of nuclear weapons by delaying or restricting the reprocessing of spent fuel from light water reactors. The valuation procedure is applied to selected spent fuel scenarios, and the impact is assessed of the different assumptions likely to be made by interested parties on the resulting values of spent fuel. 43 pp. Ref.