The Economics of Reprocessing Versus Direct Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel

The problem of global climate change will be solved by meeting stringent, long-term policy targets that are much more ambitious than the short-term, greenhouse gas emissions reductions that some countries currently attempt to reach. 

For decades, there has been an intense debate over the best approach to managing spent fuel from nuclear power reactors, whether it is better to dispose of it directly in geologic repositories, or reprocess it to recover and recycle the plutonium and uranium, disposing only of the wastes from reprocessing and recycling.

This paper discusses the concept "intermediate sustainability," in which there is some substitution between natural and technical capital over the foreseeable future.