2 Jun (NucNet): The US Department of Energy (DOE) should focus on research and development of advanced reprocessing activities, a Government Accountability Office report has said.
The report, released on 22 May 2008, also recommends that DOE “reassess” its accelerated approach to the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) in favour of advanced reprocessing technologies.
The DOE’s accelerated approach of building full-scale facilities would probably require using “unproven evolutions of existing technologies” that would reduce radioactive waste and mitigate proliferation risks to a much lesser degree than anticipated from more advanced technologies,” the report said.
The DOE’s current GNEP plan supports working with industry to demonstrate the latest commercially available technology in full-scale reprocessing facilities. The GAO report found this plan to be inconsistent with the partnership’s objectives.
Although building full-scale facilities would reduce radioactive waste and mitigate proliferation risks, the report said that more advanced technologies would offer even greater benefits.
“The DOE can fully address GNEP’s waste reduction and nonproliferation objectives only by developing advanced technologies that are not yet ready for commercial deployment,” the report said. It also recommended that the DOE work with the nuclear industry to build an engineering-scale reprocessing plant eventually but defer building until sufficient testing and development is complete to ensure the plant’s output is suitable for recycling.
The GAO report also said that the current DOE plan would need “significant government funding” for implementation. The GAO reviewed industry proposals submitted to the DOE and found that initial facilities “would rely entirely on government support” and would call for loan guarantees to attract private investment.
The GAO report is available online (www.gao.gov/new.items/d08483.pdf).
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