Nuclear power has been questioned almost since its beginnings and one of the major issues concerning its social acceptability around the world is nuclear waste management. In recent years, these issues have led to a rise in public opposition in some countries and, thus, nuclear energy has been facing even more challenges. However, continuous efforts in R&D (research and development) are resulting in new spent nuclear fuel (SNF) management technologies that might be the pathway towards helping the environment and the sustainability of nuclear energy. Thus, reprocessing and recycling of SNF could be one of the key points to improve the social acceptability of nuclear energy. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to review the state of the nuclear waste management technologies, its evolution through time and the future advanced techniques that are currently under research, in order to obtain a global vision of the nuclear fuel cycle strategies available, their advantages and disadvantages, and their expected evolution in the future.

This study presents a complete characterization of the residual materials found in fruit and vegetable markets and their adaptability to be treated by anaerobic digestion with the aim of generating biogas as a new and renewable energy source. It has been determined that these substrates are perfectly suitable to be treated by anaerobic digestion, being rich in simple carbohydrates, with a high content of moisture and solids (total and volatile), which makes it a substrate of easy solubilization and with a great amount of matter directly accessible to the microorganisms responsible for anaerobic degradation. The process develops smoothly, with a slight release of acidic elements, but without impact by the development of the buffer effect by ammonia. In addition, a phenomenon of digestion is observed in two phases, indicating that despite the particulateing of the substrate, it manages to digest the organic matter directly accessible and the inaccessible. In numerical terms, 100 g of residue V produce 913.282 NmL of biogas, of which 289.333 NmL correspond to methane. The disintegration constant is 0.200 days⁻¹, with 16,045% of the substrate degraded. As an innovation, the hydrogen generated in the process has been used as an indicator of the stability and development of the process. Accompanied by a statistical analysis and mathematical adjustments, it is possible to characterize in depth the process and its evolution, determining that the degradation is fast, with a rapid and stable hydrolysis.

The objective of the present study is to compare the associated costs of long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel—open cycle strategy—with the associated cost of reprocessing and recycling strategy of spent fuel—closed cycle strategy—based on the current international studies. The analysis presents cost trends for both strategies. Also, to point out the fact that the total cost of spent nuclear fuel management (open cycle) is impossible to establish at present, while the related costs of the closed cycle are stable and known, averting uncertainties.

This article aims to analyze the results of an economic study carried out to compare the influence of nuclear production capacity in different countries. The analysis is based on LCOEs (levelized cost of electricity) for three back-end strategies: open cycle, closed cycle and advanced closed cycle. The results show that costs are not a relevant criteria in order to select an energy policy for the spent nuclear fuel management.

The aim of the present paper is to present and analyse the results obtained from a comparative economic feasibility study performed for the two main nuclear spent fuel management cycles: Once-Through Cycle and Twice-Through Cycle in a Spanish scenario, taking into account the new Spanish legislation with which new tax provisions for generation and storage of nuclear waste must be included in the cycle costs.