(249a) 300 Year High Level Nuclear Waste

The nuclear industry is studying different options to improve the current nuclear fuel cycle.  Most of these studies focus on either getting the most energy out of the system or optimizing the system economics.  However, the waste that is produced by the current, and many of the revised, fuel cycles is not acceptable to the general public for a variety of reasons.  This paper addresses what could be the major issue the public has, the >10,000 year lifetime of the toxicity of the radioactive waste.  This paper focuses on the one approach to reducing and quantifying the radiohazard of the used nuclear fuel and explores the various quantifying options and justifies the best metric to determine the hazard involved with radioisotopes. The conclusion suggests a plausible regulation that would minimize the long-term hazard of used nuclear fuel and create a more benign waste.