National Policies and Funding
This is a compendium of radioactive waste management policies in different countries, and how they are funded. Policies change from time to time and the accounts detailed in individual country papers may be more up-to-date than within this document.
Australia
There are no civil nuclear power reactors in Australia. The HIFAR research reactor at Lucas Heights, near Sydney, was replaced in 2007 by the OPAL reactor on the same site, operated by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO).
Australia's policy is to reprocess spent fuel from its research reactors, with the exception of US-origin fuel, which has all been returned to the USA. The waste arising from the reprocessing of the non-US spent fuel overseas is returned to Australia for storage and, ultimately, disposed of as intermediate-level waste (ILW). Returns were made from France in December 2015 and from the UK in March 2022.
Disposal status
Since the late 1970s there has been an evolving process of site selection for a national radioactive waste repository for low-level waste (LLW) and short-lived ILW. In November 2021 Napandee near Kimba in South Australia was selected as the site for a national facility for LLW and ILW. In July 2023 the Federal Court set aside the site declaration. The government then decided not to pursue Napandee or the two other shortlisted sites. It then began work on alternative proposals for storage and disposal.
In May 2016 the South Australian (SA) government's royal commission on the nuclear fuel cycle reported. Its main recommendation was for an international high-level waste (HLW) repository in the state on a commercial basis, though this was not accepted. The government would "remain open to pursuing this opportunity for SA" eventually.
Waste management facilities
ANSTO has storage facilities onsite for its operational waste and for spent fuel. The Queensland State Government has a purpose-built, above-ground store at Esk, near Brisbane, for LLW and short- and long-lived ILW generated in Queensland. The Western Australian (WA) government operates a near-surface disposal facility for intractable waste generated in WA, including LLW and short-lived ILW, at Mount Walton East, about 480 km northeast of Perth.
Responsible agencies
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO).
Regulator: Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA).
Responsibility for radioactive waste disposal: Australian Radioactive Waste Agency (ARWA).
Belgium
About 34% of Belgium's electricity production comes from its two operable nuclear power reactors (about 2.1 GWe capacity). The country also has two research reactors operated by the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK-CEN).
Following the cessation of new reprocessing contracts by the government in 1994, the country has adopted a strategy of direct disposal.
Disposal status
A surface repository for LLW and short-lived ILW is being built at Dessel. It received its nuclear licence in May 2023. Construction began in September 2025.
Deep geological disposal studies are underway for ILW and HLW/used fuel and are focused on the clays at Mol. In 1980, construction of the High Activity Disposal Experiment Site (HADES) underground research laboratory, 225 m deep in the Boom clay, commenced. No disposal site for HLW has been identified.
In 2016 Synatom contracted with Germany’s Gesellschaft für Nuklear-Service mbH (GNS) to provide 30 CASTOR casks from 2021 for transport and storage of used fuel at Doel and Tihange.
Waste management facilities
LLW/ILW storage at Belgoprocess, Dessel, with cAt project (category A waste, i.e. low-level waste and short-lived ILW) under construction for surface disposal.
Spent fuel stored onsite at the nuclear power plants.
Vitrified HLW from former reprocessing stored at Belgoprocess, Dessel.
Responsible agencies
Implementer: ONDRAF/NIRAS, through its industrial subsidiary Belgoprocess.
Regulator: Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC).
Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Belgian Agency for Management of Radioactive Waste and Enriched Fissile Materials (ONDRAF/NIRAS).
Funding
- In March 2025 responsibility for nuclear waste passed from the utility, Engie, to the Belgian state. Under the agreement, Synatom pays a fixed sum of €15 billion (in 2022 euros) to HEDERA, a public body.
- Synatom's remaining provisions, for plant dismantling and spent fuel management, are discounted at 2.5% and 3% respectively.
- Utilities also pay a levy on each kWh of electricity sold, which goes into a decommissioning and waste management fund, managed by the fuel cycle company Synatom.
Brazil
About 2% of Brazil’s electricity production comes from its 2 operable nuclear power reactors (about 1.9 GWe capacity). The country has a third reactor under construction, but work on it has been halted since April 2023. It has yet to decide on whether to adopt a policy of reprocessing or direct disposal.
Disposal status
Used fuel is stored. At present, it is not considered a waste.
LLW and ILW are stored onsite at Angra. Legislation in 2001 provides the framework for LLW and ILW repository site selection, construction and operation. A long-term solution for these is to be in place before Angra 3 is commissioned. In 2025 the National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN) said a preferred site had been selected for this repository, known as Centena.
Waste management facilities
Temporary onsite facilities are at Angra. A dry storage unit for used fuel there received its initial operating authorization in 2021.
Responsible agencies
The National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN) is responsible for the management and disposal of radioactive waste. Licensing of waste repositories is the responsibility of the National Nuclear Safety Authority (ANSN), created in 2021.
Bulgaria
About 38% of Bulgaria’s electricity production comes from its 2 operable nuclear power reactors (about 2.0 GWe capacity). Its national strategy defines reprocessing abroad as the policy for used fuel.
Disposal status
Under a 2002 agreement, Bulgaria was formerly paying Russia $ 620,000 per tonne for the repatriation of used nuclear fuel. The majority of fuel has been reprocessed in the Mayak plant at Ozersk, with the balance being sent to the Zheleznogorsk plant at Krasnoyarsk. The regulator reported shipments to Russia in 2020 and 2021.
A deep geological repository is accepted as the option for HLW and long-lived waste.
Waste management facilities
Used fuel is initially stored in pools at each reactor. In 1990 a central pool-type storage facility was constructed at Kozloduy to take fuel from all the units. This was upgraded and a new licence issued in 2001.
A €49 million dry storage facility with a capacity of 5200 fuel assemblies in 72 casks was opened in May 2011 at Kozloduy, with finance from the Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund administered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). It will hold the fuel from the four closed reactors. Later expansion to hold 8000 VVER-440 and 2500 VVER-1000 assemblies is envisaged.
The National Disposal Facility for Low- and Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste (NDF) started construction in August 2017 at the Radiana site, located within the 2 km protected zone of the Kozloduy nuclear plant. It was officially opened in April 2026. Built as a near-surface facility in modules, it will ultimately have a capacity of 138,200 cubic metres. It is expected to be filled over 60 years and then monitored for more than 300 years. It was paid for by the Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund. A LLW and ILW treatment and storage facility is also at Kozloduy.
Responsible agencies
State Enterprise Radioactive Waste (SE-RAW) is responsible for waste management.
Licensing is by the Bulgarian Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NRA).
Funding
- An electricity price levy, specified by the Bulgarian Council of Ministers, feeds two national funds – one for the safe disposal of radioactive waste, and another for the decommissioning of nuclear facilities. The Kozloduy nuclear plant pays 3% of the price of its power into the waste management fund and a further 7.5% into the decommissioning fund.
Canada
About 13% of Canada's electricity production comes from its 17 operable nuclear power reactors (about 12.7 GWe capacity).
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) was set up under the 2002 Nuclear Fuel Waste Act by the nuclear utilities Ontario Power Generation, Hydro-Québec and New Brunswick Power Corporation, operating in conjunction with Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL). Its mandate is to explore options for storage and disposal, and to then make proposals to the government and to implement what is decided. In 2023 it also took on responsibility for disposing of ILW and non-fuel HLW.
Disposal status and facilities
The nuclear utilities and AECL remain responsible for LLW, and for storing ILW until it can be disposed of. Both are currently stored above ground.
Following a strong positive response to polling of local residents, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) in 2005 proceeded with plans to construct a deep geological repository for its LLW and ILW near the Bruce nuclear power plant. The repository was to be 680 metres beneath its Western Waste Management Facility, which it has operated since 1974. In April 2011 OPG submitted to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) its 12,500 page environmental assessment, which was approved in May 2015. In January 2020 the Saugeen Ojibway Nation voted against the project. OPG withdrew it in May 2020.
In June 2007, the government selected the retrievable deep geological disposal option for used fuel and other HLW – referred to as adaptive phased management (APM) – recommended by the NWMO. The organization designed a siting process and commenced a technical and socio-economic assessment of potential candidate sites in late 2012. The focus narrowed to two areas in Ontario: Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation–Ignace, and Saugeen Ojibway Nation–South Bruce. In November 2024 the NWMO selected the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation–Ignace area. Federal impact assessment and licensing began in January 2026. The NWMO expects the repository to begin operation in the 2040s.
Waste management facilities
The Western Waste Management Facility stores all the LLW and ILW from the operation of OPG's 20 nuclear reactors, including those leased to Bruce Power. In addition, the facility provides dry storage for used fuel from the Bruce reactors.
The Pickering Waste Management Facility provides dry storage for used fuel from the Pickering reactors. A second phase of the facility has been built.
The Darlington Waste Management Facility provides dry storage for the Darlington reactors.
Responsible agencies
Implementer: Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO).
Regulator for Federal facilities: Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC).
Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Natural Resources Canada.
China
About 5% of China’s electricity production comes from its 65 operable nuclear power reactors (about 65.1 GWe capacity). China has a long-term policy of fuel reprocessing.
Disposal status
Separated high-level waste will be vitrified, encapsulated and put into a geological repository some 500 metres deep. Site selection and evaluation has been under way since 1986 and is focused on three candidate locations in the Beishan area of Gansu province. All are in granite host rock. Construction of an underground research laboratory at Beishan began in June 2021. It is designed to operate for 50 years. The third step is to construct the final repository from 2040 and to carry out demonstration disposal. Acceptance of HLW into a national repository is anticipated from 2050.
A commercial-scale Sino-French reprocessing plant has been proposed, possibly including a MOX plant. Lianyungang city in Jiangsu was a possible location, close to the Tianwan power plant. Site selection work there was suspended in August 2016.
A used fuel storage facility with the capacity to hold 3000 tonnes of fuel initially, and possibly 6000 tonnes later is planned near the eventual reprocessing plant.
Industrial-scale disposal of LLW and ILW takes place at three sites: near Yumen in Gansu province, at Beilong in Guangdong province, and at Feifengshan in Sichuan province.
Waste management facilities
Most used fuel is stored at reactor sites, in ponds. The only dry storage operating is at Qinshan, and this is being expanded. Some used fuel is transported by road to the centralised used fuel storage facility at Lanzhou Nuclear Fuel Complex, 25 km northeast of Lanzhou in central Gansu province.
A pilot reprocessing plant using the Purex process was constructed at Lanzhou Nuclear Fuel Complex in Gansu province. It reprocessed about 50 tonnes of used fuel over 2013-15. A demonstration 200 t/yr used fuel treatment plant is being built in Gansu Nuclear Technology Industrial Park by China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) Longrui Technology Company.
Responsible agencies
The Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) is responsible for radioactive waste management.
The China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA) is responsible for project control and financial management.
China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) deals with implementation via four subsidiaries: Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology (BRIUG), China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE), China Institute of Radiation Protection (CIRP) and CNNC China Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation (CNPE).
The National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) is the regulator.
Funding
- There is a levy of CNY 2.6 cents/kWh (USD 0.37 ¢/kWh) on electricity sold by nuclear plants, used to pay for the management, reprocessing and eventual disposal of HLW. The levy applies to pressurized water reactors that have been in commercial operation for more than five years.
Czech Republic
About 42% of the Czech Republic’s electricity production comes from its 6 operable nuclear power reactors (about 4.0 GWe capacity). There is no state policy on reprocessing and the question remains open. However CEZ does not perceive it as being economic.
Disposal status
Used fuel is stored at each power plant. Two interim dry storage facilities are in operation at Dukovany, with an additional facility in operation at Temelin.
In December 2020 the government approved four candidate sites for a geological repository for HLW. RAWRA/SURAO began exploratory drilling at the first of them, Janoch, in June 2026. It aims to select the final site by 2030. Finland's Posiva Solutions is advising the Radioactive Waste Repository Authority (RAWRA/SURAO).
The country has three operating repositories for LILW – Dukovany, Richard and Bratrstvi. The Dukovany facility is the largest of the three, with a 55,000m3 storage volume. The capacity is sufficient to store waste from both the Dukovany and Temelin plants, even with their operational lives extended.
Responsible agencies
CEZ is responsible for storage and management of its used fuel until it is handed over to the Radioactive Waste Repository Authority (RAWRA/SURAO).
Eventual disposal of HLW and used fuel is the responsibility of the state organisation, RAWRA/SURAO.
Funding
- Under the Atomic Act, CEZ as nuclear plant operator is required to put aside funds for waste disposal, lodging these with the Czech National Bank. The rate has been CZK 88/MWh since January 2026. The Act also requires that nuclear plants are decommissioned following the end of their operating lifetimes and CEZ is also progressively funding this. The adequacy of reserve funds for decommissioning is under the supervision of RAWRA/SURAO.
- CEZ also funds an internal financial reserve for long-term used fuel storage.
Finland
About 40% of Finland’s electricity production comes from its five operable nuclear power reactors (about 4.4 GWe capacity). The country has a policy of direct disposal of used fuel.
Disposal status and facilities
Underground repositories for LLW and ILW have been in operation at Olkiluoto since 1992 and Loviisa since 1998. These will be expanded to take eventual decommissioning waste. The depth of these is about 100 metres.
Six sites for deep geological disposal of HLW/used fuel were considered between 1987 and 1999, followed by a government decision in 2000 for deep geological disposal in Olkiluoto bedrock at Eurajoki, in line with strong local community support. Construction of the underground rock characterisation facility (Onkalo) began in 2004. It has since been extended to the final disposal depth of about 430 metres, where it forms part of the repository. Research has been conducted there since the beginning of its construction.
Posiva applied for a construction licence for the final repository for 9000 tonnes of used fuel from Olkiluoto and Loviisa and the encapsulation plant in December 2012. The construction licence for both the repository and encapsulation plant was granted in 2015. It allows up to 6500 tonnes of uranium to be disposed of. Posiva applied for an operating licence in December 2021. After a favourable safety assessment by STUK in August 2026, the government granted the licence in October 2026. Posiva has not yet set a date for disposal to begin.
Fennovoima had planned to build its own repository for used fuel from its Hanhikivi 1 plant. It ended the Hanhikivi 1 project in May 2022.
Responsible agencies
Implementer: Fortum Power and Heat Oy and Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) are responsible for interim storage of used fuel and for the conditioning and disposal of operating LLW and ILW at the Loviisa (Fortum) and Olkiluoto (TVO) nuclear power plants.
Posiva Oy, which is owned by TVO (60%) and Fortum (40%), is responsible for the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel of the owners.
Regulator: Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK).
Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment (TEM)
Funding
- The nuclear utilities make payments into the National Nuclear Waste Management Fund, managed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.
- The charges (about 10% of generation costs) are set annually by the government according to the assessed liabilities for each company, and also cover decommissioning.
France
About 68% of France’s electricity production comes from its 57 operable nuclear power reactors (about 63.0 GWe capacity). The country has a policy of reprocessing used fuel.
The management of radioactive waste in France is governed by the 2006 Nuclear Materials and Waste Management Program Act which established deep geological disposal as the reference solution for long-lived HLW (with retrievability for at least 100 years). The National Plan for Radioactive Materials and Waste Management is updated every five years.
Disposal status and facilities
Most short-lived LLW and ILW is sent for final disposal to the National Radioactive Waste Management Agency's (ANDRA's) surface waste repository:
- The Centre de l’Aube short-lived low- and intermediate-level waste repository in Soulaines-Dhuys was licensed in September 1989 and took over from the Manche repository in 1992.
- The Manche waste repository next to La Hague received 527,000 m3 of this waste from 1969 to 1994, and is now capped with a multi-layer grassed cover. It entered the surveillance phase in 2003.
In addition, the Centre de Morvilliers (near the Centre de l’Aube) is a dedicated facility for very LLW (average activity should be under 10 Bq/g) and has been in service since 2003.
For waste contaminated with radium and of graphite (i.e. LLW that is long-lived) a store is being built at the Morvilliers very low-level waste (VLLW) site pending progress with a disposal centre.
In 1999 ANDRA was authorised to build an underground research laboratory in clay at Bure to prepare for disposal of vitrified HLW and long-lived ILW. In 2012 plans for the Industrial Centre for Geological Disposal (CIGEO) deep repository at Bure were endorsed by the Commission Nationale d'Evaluation (CNE). CIGEO was declared to be of public utility in July 2022. Andra applied for its construction licence in January 2023. In December 2025 the regulator found the safety case satisfactory at this stage of the application.
Responsible agencies
Implementer: National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (ANDRA).
Regulator: French Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority (ASNR).
Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Ministry of Environment, Energy and Marine Affairs, (Ministère de l'Environnement, de l'Énergie et de la Mer).
Commission Nationale d'Evaluation (CNE).
Funding
- EDF sets aside 0.14 Euro cents/kWh (USD 0.15 ¢/kWh) for waste management and decommissioning costs.
- At the end of 2025 EDF's provisions in France for the back end of the fuel cycle amounted to €31.6 billion. Those for decommissioning and last cores amounted to €22.8 billion.
- EDF estimates that the total cost (from 2035) will be €75 billion.
Germany
Germany completed its nuclear phase-out in April 2023, when its last three nuclear power reactors were shut down.
Interim storage of spent fuel, originally a utility responsibility, passed to the state-owned company BGZ from 2017. This includes the offsite surface facilities at Ahaus and Gorleben. Final disposal is the responsibility of the federal government.
In December 2016 the Bundestag resolved to create a €23.6 billion state-owned fund to pay for the interim storage and disposal of all German used fuel and nuclear waste. The four nuclear utilities paid €24.1 billion into the fund, KENFO, in 2017. They remain responsible for decommissioning their plants and packaging the waste.
Germany’s selection of a site to dispose of high-level wate is government by The Law on the Search and Selection of a Site for a Repository for High-Level Waste. It requires a multi-phase process to find the most suitable location to site a repository and guarantees full participation in the process for local people. In 2020 The Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal (Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH, BGE) published a list of 90 sub-areas covering 54% of Germany’s surface area which could potentially be geologically and socially suitable for a repository. By October 2026 this had been reduced to 36 sub-areas representing about 5% of the country’s area. BGE intends to propose 5-10 sites for surface exploration by the end of 2027. BGE intends to make a final site selection in 2031 and begin disposal operations in 2050.
Disposal status and facilities
The return to Germany of HLW from past reprocessing in France and the UK was completed in June 2026. Gorleben holds 108 casks of vitrified HLW returned from France. Later returns went to interim stores at Philippsburg, Biblis, Isar and Brokdorf.
The Morsleben repository for radioactive waste was used for the disposal of LLW and ILW until 1998. It is now being decommissioned.
The former iron ore mine Konrad in Salzgitter has been investigated since 1975 as a possible repository for LLW and ILW. A construction licence was issued in January 2008 for it to initially take some 300,000 m3 – 95% of the country's waste volume, with 1% of the radioactivity. Disposal at Konrad is expected to begin in the early 2030s. The August 2015 program did not seek an extension to the Konrad repository licence as originally proposed due to local opposition. Another repository, as such, will need to accommodate all ILW and LLW produced by 2022.
The Asse salt mine repository received waste from 1967 to 1978, and is now closed. It is in poor condition and is seen to represent a failure of proper licensing process. The BfS decided in 2010 that the waste should be moved from it. Retrieval of its 126,000 drums of waste is planned to begin in 2033.
The salt dome at Gorleben was to be the location for a national centre for disposal of radioactive waste. It was later investigated as a possible site for geological disposal of HLW. A pilot conditioning plant is there. In September 2020 Gorleben and 78 other salt domes were excluded from the new national site selection process for an HLW repository. The mine was closed in September 2021. Backfilling began in December 2024.
Responsible agencies
Implementer: Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal (BGE).
Regulator and licensing authority: Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE), under the federal environment ministry.
Interim storage: the state-owned BGZ.
Funding
- Since 2017 the state fund KENFO has financed interim storage and disposal. The utilities pay for decommissioning their plants and for packaging the waste.
- KENFO's assets amounted to €25.6 billion at the end of 2025.
India
About 3% of India’s electricity production comes from its 24 operable nuclear power reactors (about 7.9 GWe capacity). The country has a policy of reprocessing used fuel.
Disposal status and facilities
Used fuel from the civil PHWRs is reprocessed by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) at Trombay, Tarapur and Kalpakkam to extract reactor-grade plutonium for use in the fast breeder reactors. The used PWR fuel from the Kudankulam and other imported reactors will also be reprocessed. A new reprocessing plant is being built at BARC. A demonstration plant for reprocessing fast reactor fuel was dedicated at Kalpakkam in January 2024.
Waste from reactors and reprocessing plants is treated and stored at each site. Waste immobilisation plants are in operation at Tarapur and Trombay and another vitrification plant was commissioned by BARC in 2013 at Kalpakkam for waste from reprocessing Madras used fuel. The immobilisation plants use borosilicate glass, as in Europe.
Research is underway at BARC into the siting and design for final disposal of HLW and long-lived waste.
Responsible agencies
The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) is the regulator for radioactive waste management in India. The Board reports to the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), a government entity.
Japan
Up to 2011, Japan's nuclear power reactors accounted for some 30% of electricity produced in the country. There are currently 33 operable power reactors with a total capacity of approximately 31.7 GWe. The country has a policy of reprocessing and a large reprocessing complex at Rokkasho-Mura, Aomori prefecture is being commissioned.
In 2000, the Japanese Diet passed the Law on Final Disposal of Specified Radioactive Waste (the 'Final Disposal Law') which mandates deep geological disposal of HLW (defined as only vitrified waste from reprocessing spent reactor fuel). In line with this, the Nuclear Waste Management Organisation (NUMO) was set up by the private sector to progress plans for disposal.
In May 2016 parliament passed a bill aimed at "taking measures necessary for the steady implementation of the reprocessing of used nuclear fuel" and MOX fuel fabrication, amending a 2005 law on funding these activities. The bill creates a new entity responsible for reprocessing, the Spent Fuel Reprocessing Organisation (SFRO), which will collect funds and contract out reprocessing and MOX fuel fabrication to JNFL. In April 2024 the organization also took on the promotion of decommissioning. It was renamed the Nuclear Reprocessing and Decommissioning Facilitation Organization of Japan (NuRO).
Disposal status and facilities
A large LLW disposal centre at the Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd (JNFL) site in Rokkasho-Mura, Aomori prefecture, has been operational since 1992. JNFL is a private venture led by ten domestic electric power companies.
NUMO is undertaking an open solicitation for candidate sites. In October 2020 it accepted applications from Suttsu and Kamoenai in Hokkaido for literature surveys, the first stage of site selection. It submitted its reports on them in November 2024. Further literature surveys began at Genkai in June 2024 and at Minami-Torishima in May 2026.
Used fuel storage occurs onsite at all nuclear power plants. An offsite interim storage facility for used fuel from Tepco and Japco plants began operating at Mutsu, Aomori prefecture, in November 2024.
JNFL operates a storage facility at Rokkasho-Mura for vitrified HLW which have been returned from Europe after Japanese used fuel has been reprocessed there.
Responsible agencies
Implementer: Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan (NUMO).
Regulator: Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) under the Environment Ministry.
Japan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC).
Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
Funding
- Since 2016 Japan's nuclear utilities pay annual contributions to the SFRO (now NuRO) to cover the expected cost for reprocessing of all spent fuel they produce in the previous fiscal year, and for turning all of the resulting separated plutonium into MOX fuel. The contributions are based on the amount of electricity generated.
- Up to 2016, Japan's ten power companies deposited fees for future reprocessing at Rokkasho with the Radioactive Waste Management Funding and Research Centre (RWMC). The fee was JPY0.5 (0.4 US cents) per kilowatt-hour of nuclear electricity generated. The total deposited at RWMC amounted to JPY 2.4 trillion ($21 billion) as of March 2015.
Netherlands
About 3% of the Netherlands' electricity production comes from its single Borssele reactor (about 0.5 GWe capacity).
The country has a policy of reprocessing used fuel and long-term storage (100 years) of all radioactive waste. In December 2024 the government dropped its earlier plan to decide on a geological repository around 2100. It now intends to decide on the location, method and timetable for disposal in 2050.
Disposal status
Used nuclear fuel from Borssele and the shutdown Dodewaard nuclear plant is reprocessed in France (and formerly in UK). The waste arising from reprocessing is sent to COVRA, based at Borssele, for long-term storage.
Waste management facilities
A low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste (LILW) management centre was commissioned in 1992 at COVRA.
The HABOG interim dry HLW storage facility at COVRA opened in 2003 with two sections: for ILW, and for vitrified HLW.
Responsible agencies
Implementer and agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Central Organisation for Radioactive Waste (COVRA).
Regulator: the Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ANVS), an independent administrative authority under the Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management.
Russia
About 19% of Russia’s electricity production comes from its 34 operable nuclear power reactors (about 28.0 GWe capacity). Russian policy is to close the fuel cycle as far as possible and utilise recycled uranium. However, less than half used fuel is reprocessed.
Disposal status and facilities
The RT-1 reprocessing plant has operated at Mayak Chemical Combine’s plant at Ozersk in the Urals since 1971. Most of its feed has been from VVER-440 reactors, and its recycled uranium is used in all RBMK reactors. Plutonium is stored for use in fast reactors. At Zheleznogorsk in Siberia the Mining and Chemical Combine operates a pilot demonstration centre for reprocessing. Its second, larger stage was launched in July 2025.
Wet storage capacity for used fuel at Ozersk is being increased to 9000 tonnes, and that at Zheleznogorsk is being increased to 11,000 tonnes, along with 38,000 tonnes dry storage capacity.
In 2008 the Nizhnekansky Granite Massif in Krasnoyarsk Territory was put forward as a site for a national deep geological repository, initially for 20,000 tonnes of ILW and HLW, which will be retrievable. Public hearings on the Nizhnekansky granite were held in July 2012. The 2016 Territorial Planning Scheme to 2030 confirmed the site and approved construction of repository facilities here for 4500m3 net of class 1 waste and 155,000m3 net of class 2 waste.
Russia's national operator for radioactive waste management (NO RAO) has been building an underground research laboratory here since 2018. It describes the laboratory as a key step towards a decision on the final disposal of HLW.
Radon has been the organisation responsible for medical and LLW & ILW industrial radioactive waste. It has had 16 storage sites for waste up to intermediate level. Not far outside Moscow, the major Radon facility has both laboratories and disposal sites.
In 2016 the Territorial Planning Scheme to 2030 approved construction of near-surface repository facilities for 100,000 m3 LILW at Ozersk for Mayak, for 200,000 m3 LILW at Tomsk for the Siberian Chemical Combine, for 48,000 m3 LILW from Urals Electrochemical Combine at Novouralsk, and for 50,000 m3 LILW at Sosnovy Bor in the Leningrad oblast. The Novouralsk facility received its first waste in November 2016. The first stage of the Seversk facility in Tomsk region began operating in October 2026.
Russia has also for many years used deep-well injection for LLW and ILW from some facilities, notably Seversk, Zheleznogorsk and Dimitrovgrad.
Responsible agencies
Rosatom and the National Operator for Radioactive Waste Management (FSUE NO RAO) are responsible for coordination and execution of works associated with radwaste management, notably its disposal.
NO RAO functions and tariffs are set by government, notably the Ministry of Natural Resources. Its branches are at Zheleznogorsk in Krasnoyarsk, Seversk in Tomsk, Dimitrovgrad in Ulyanovsk and Novouralsk in Sverdlovsk.
Funding
- In the second federal target program for nuclear and radiation safety for 2016 to 2030, nearly 20% of the RUR 562 billion budget is for creating the infrastructure required for the processing and final disposal of used nuclear fuel and radioactive waste.
- About 70% of the budget is from federal funds, much of the rest from Rosatom. It will be implemented in three 5-year stages, and involves the transition to new used fuel recycling technologies to close the fuel cycle, establishing a final HLW repository, decommissioning of 82 nuclear and radiation hazardous facilities, two nuclear icebreakers and other tasks.
Spain
About 19% of Spain's electricity production comes from its seven operable nuclear power reactors (about 7.1 GWe capacity). Policy is now for direct disposal of used fuel.
In 1984 the state-owned Empresa Nacional de Residuos Radiactivos SA (Enresa) was established to take responsibility for radioactive waste management and decommissioning of nuclear plants in the country and is now the only state-owned part of the nuclear industry.
Disposal status
Some used fuel has been reprocessed abroad, but further reprocessing was cancelled in 1982 and since then used fuel has been stored at the nuclear plants.
In mid-2006 parliament approved Enresa's plans to develop a temporary central nuclear waste storage facility, and the safety authority approved its design, which was similar to the Habog facility in the Netherlands. In 2009 the government called for municipalities to volunteer to host this €700 million Almacén Temporal Centralizado (ATC) facility for HLW and used fuel. In December 2011 the Ministry announced that Villar de Canas in Cuenca had been selected as the site, and a 60-year storage period was mentioned. In December 2023 the government abandoned the project. Its seventh General Radioactive Waste Plan instead provides for seven storage facilities at the nuclear plant sites.
The plan provides for a deep geological repository, due to start operating in 2073.
Waste management facilities
The El Cabril LLW and ILW near-surface disposal facility has been in operation in Córdoba since 1961. In 2016 Enresa was given approval by the Nuclear Safety Council to operate the new VLLW disposal facility there, which has a storage capacity of over 17,000 m3.
Responsible agencies
Implementer: National Agency for Radioactive Waste (Enresa).
Regulator: Nuclear Safety Council (CSN).
Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico, MITECO).
Funding
- Enresa manages a fund which is provisioned by a fee on nuclear electricity generation, set at 1.036 Euro cents/kWh from July 2024.
Sweden
About 27% of Sweden’s electricity production comes from its six operable nuclear power reactors (about 7.0 GWe capacity). The country's radioactive waste policy is for direct disposal of used fuel in crystalline bedrock.
Nuclear generators are responsible for the costs of managing and disposing of spent fuel. The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB) was set up by the generators to manage and dispose of radioactive waste following the Waste Legislation (Stipulation Act) in 1977.
Disposal status and facilities
Short-lived LLW and ILW is disposed of in the final repository (SFR), located 60 metres beneath the Baltic Sea adjacent to the Forsmark nuclear plant. Brought into operation in 1988, SFR comprises four underground caverns and one silo. Capacity is 63,000 cubic metres. Construction of an extension that will triple this capacity began in December 2024.
Used fuel is transferred from reactor storage to a central interim storage facility (CLAB) near the Oskarshamn nuclear plant after about a year. Used fuel is stored under water in an underground rock cavern for some 40-50 years. It will then be encapsulated in copper canisters with cast iron internal structure for final emplacement in a 500 metre deep repository in granite. In 2025 just over 8000 tonnes of used fuel was at CLAB. The facility is licensed to hold 11,000 tonnes.
Research at the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory 500 metres deep in wet granite nearby identified geological characteristics for this final deep repository. Two sites were volunteered for the final repository, and Östhammar near Forsmark was selected. SKB applied for a licence to construct the repository in 2011. SSM gave the government a positive opinion in January 2018. The Land and Environment Court asked for further information on the copper canisters. The government approved the repository in January 2022. Ground works for its construction began in January 2025.
The repository will have 12,000 tonnes capacity at 500 metres depth in 1.9 billion year-old granite. A 5 km ramp will connect to an eventual 60 km of tunnels over 4 sq km, housing 6000 copper-cast iron canisters containing the used fuel. Each 25-tonne canister will hold 2 tonnes of used fuel. Bentonite clay would surround each canister to adsorb any leakage.
Responsible agencies
Implementer: Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB).
Regulator: the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM).
Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Ministry of Climate and Enterprise. An independent committee attached to the government, the Swedish National Council for Nuclear Waste (Kärnavfallsrådet), was closed at the end of 2022.
Funding
- The nuclear utilities make payments into the Swedish Nuclear Waste Fund (Kärnavfallsfonden). Since September 2018 the Swedish National Debt Office (Riksgälden) has been responsible for the financing system, a role previously held by SSM. The fees paid by each utility are earmarked for its own costs.
- Fees are set separately for each reactor owner, normally for three-year periods. For 2026 they range from SEK 0.031/kWh to SEK 0.053/kWh. SKB's 2025 estimate puts the total cost of the Swedish nuclear waste programme at SEK 257 billion.
Switzerland
About 27% of Switzerland’s electricity production comes from its four operable nuclear power reactors (about 3.0 GWe capacity).
The Swiss Federal Nuclear Energy Act stipulates that radioactive waste must be disposed of in Switzerland in a deep geological repository. In 1972 a national co-operative for disposal of radioactive waste (NAGRA) was set up, involving power plant operators and the federal government. In 2006 a ten-year suspension of reprocessing was ordered. The Nuclear Energy Act now prohibits the reprocessing of used fuel and its export for reprocessing. NAGRA has its own rock laboratory on the Grimsel pass in the Canton of Bern.
Disposal status
Zwilag is a waste company owned by four Swiss nuclear utilities. Used fuel is now retained at the reactors or sent to the Zwilag central storage facility (Zentrales Zwischenlager, ZZL) in Würenlingen for interim above-ground, dry cask storage, being managed as HLW.
The ZZL site also has facilities for incineration (in a high temperature plasma oven), conditioning and storage of LLW & ILW.
The Federal Council has accepted NAGRA’s plan for a deep geological repository for HLW and long-lived ILW, and site selection in three stages has been underway since 2008. In 2012 the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) undertook a three-month consultation on NAGRA’s 2008 repository plans. The SFOE considered six possible sites and two were shortlisted in 2015: in Jura Ost and Zurich Nordost. Nördlich Lägern between the two others was added to the shortlist in 2016. In September 2022 Nagra proposed Nördlich Lägern as the repository site. It submitted applications for a general licence in November 2024.
Waste management facilities
After removal from the reactor, the used fuel elements are stored for five to ten years at the sites, and may then be sent to ZZL for interim storage.
Zwilag’s ZZL commenced operation as a central interim dry cask storage facility for HLW in 2001 at Würenlingen. It also accepts other radioactive waste. Two smaller interim storage sites for LLW & ILW have been operating since 1993: the federal government's BZL associated with the Paul Scherrer Institute at Würenlingen, and Zwibez at Beznau, which also has a storage hall for dry cask storage of spent fuel and HLW. Waste from medicine, industry and research go to BZL for sorting, conditioning and storage.
All four Swiss nuclear power plants have onsite waste treatment and conditioning facilities as well as stores for LLW & ILW operational waste.
Responsible agencies
Implementer: National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra).
Regulator: Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI).
Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Swiss Federal Office for Energy (.
Funding
- The nuclear utilities make payments into two funds (decommissioning and waste management respectively), which are independent legal entities administrated by a management commission appointed by the federal government.
- The cost estimates and annual contributions are periodically updated for both funds. The funds held CHF 10.0 billion at the end of 2025.
- The costs are allocated on the basis of the reactor power and are made at the end of each year of the assumed operating lifetime of each reactor (50 years, or 60 years for Beznau).
- Both funds are financed under the Nuclear Energy Act by annual contributions from the plant operators, calculated for each installation.
Ukraine
About 50% of the Ukraine’s electricity production comes from its 15 operating nuclear power reactors (about 13.1 GWe capacity). The country has had a policy of direct disposal of used fuel, with the possibility of closing the fuel cycle remaining under consideration.
Disposal status and facilities
Storage of used fuel for 50 years before disposal is the current policy, mostly at reactor sites. A long-term dry storage facility for spent fuel has been in operation at Zaporozhe since 2001.
The Central Spent Fuel Storage Facility (CSFSF) for Ukraine’s VVER reactors near Chernobyl (though it will not take any Chernobyl waste) began receiving used fuel at the end of 2023. It received its full operating licence in May 2026. The total storage capacity of the facility is 16,530 used fuel assemblies, including 12,010 VVER-1000 assemblies and 4520 VVER-440 assemblies in dry storage casks.
Used fuel from decommissioned RBMK reactors at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is being moved to a dry storage facility (ISF-2) a few kilometres from the plant, and not far from CSFSF. ISF-2 began full operation in July 2021. By November 2025 about a quarter of the fuel had been transferred from ISF-1, a pond facility.
VVER-440 fuel has, in the past, been shipped to Russia for reprocessing and significant volumes of VVER-1000 spent fuel were sent to Russia for storage each year at a cost to Ukraine of over $100 million per year. With the CSFSF in service, Energoatom no longer uses this service.
Preliminary investigations have shortlisted sites for a deep geological repository for HLW & ILW, including that arising from the clean-up of the Chernobyl site.
A facility for treatment of solid radioactive waste is at Zaporozhe, with a state-of-the-art incinerator. Some LLW is buried near Chernobyl.
The Industrial Complex for Radwaste Management (ICSRM) treats solid LLW & ILW from Chernobyl operations and the decommissioning of units 1 to 3 by incineration, high-force compaction, and cementation, as required. Its first processed waste packages were sent for disposal in September 2026.
Responsible agencies
Implementation: Energoatom is responsible for establishment of the national infrastructure for management of used fuel.
The regulator is the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU).
United Kingdom
About 11% of the United Kingdom's electricity production comes from its nine operable nuclear power reactors (about 5.9 GWe capacity).
The country had a policy of reprocessing, but reprocessing ended in July 2022. Used fuel from its AGR reactors and the PWR at Sizewell B is now stored pending disposal.
In April 2005 the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) formally took ownership of UK nuclear liabilities.
Disposal status and facilities
The NDA set up the Radioactive Waste Management Directorate (RWMD) to develop plans for a deep geological repository for ILW and HLW. This role is now held by Nuclear Waste Services (NWS), an NDA company formed in January 2022. The government has invited communities to volunteer to host this geological disposal facility (GDF), which will accommodate waste from new build as well as legacy waste. Two communities in Copeland, Cumbria, remain in the siting process. NWS's planning assumption is that the GDF will be available for ILW in the 2050s, and for HLW and spent fuel from 2075.
In 2015, the government designated the development of a GDF and deep boreholes as nationally significant infrastructure projects, under the Planning Act 2008, in England. This will expedite planning and permitting after plans were stalled in early 2013 when Cumbria County Council voted to halt the project.
Near-surface disposal of solid LLW takes place at the Low Level Waste Repository near Drigg in Cumbria, which has been operational since 1959. Waste has been placed in engineered vaults there since 1988.
Intermediate-level waste is stored at Sellafield and other licensed source sites, pending disposal. A new store at Harwell, Oxfordshire, for 2500 m3 of decommissioning waste is planned. A 2024 policy framework allows suitable ILW to go to near-surface disposal rather than the GDF.
HLW arising from reprocessing is vitrified and stored at Sellafield, in stainless steel canisters in silos. At Sizewell B, used fuel is stored in dry casks. All HLW is to be stored for 50 years before disposal, to allow cooling.
Responsible agencies
Implementer: Nuclear Waste Services (NWS), part of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) group.
Regulators: Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) – established in April 2014 and replacing the Health and Safety Executive's Nuclear Directorate (formerly known as the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate); Environment Agency (EA); Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA).
Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).
Funding
- The private sector nuclear company, part of EDF Energy, contributes to a separate fund (the Nuclear Liabilities Fund) to cover its long-term decommissioning liabilities for the AGR power stations and the Sizewell B PWR. After defuelling, the AGR stations are transferred to the NDA. Their decommissioning is still funded by the Nuclear Liabilities Fund. Hunterston B was the first to transfer, in April 2026. Short-term liabilities, and used fuel related issues are covered by provisions within the accounts.
- The government's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is responsible for the long-term management of the country's historic and committed nuclear liabilities. Its operations are funded by the government, but a proportion of funding is offset by revenue from the NDA's commercial activities.
- For Hinkley Point C, waste and decommissioning costs of around £2/MWh have been accounted for in the strike price of the contract for difference agreement (see section on Building new nuclear capacity: Hinkley Point C in the information page on Nuclear Power in the United Kingdom).
United States of America
About 18% of the USA’s electricity production comes from its 94 operable nuclear power reactors (about 97.0 GWe capacity). The USA is the world’s largest producer of nuclear power.
In 1977 the US government deferred commercial reprocessing of used fuel indefinitely. That ban was lifted in 1981. No commercial reprocessing takes place. Used fuel is treated as HLW, which the government is responsible for finally disposing of in a geological repository.
Disposal status and facilities
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 stipulated that the US Department of Energy (DoE) is responsible for disposing of HLW/used fuel, with disposal to commence in 1998. In 2002, the US Senate approved the development a repository at Yucca Mountain. In 2010 the Obama administration ended funding for the project and moved to withdraw its licence application. A high-level 'Blue Ribbon' commission was appointed to come up with alternative proposals.
Delays in implementing a repository meant that utilities could not be relieved of their used fuel as legislated, so damages have been awarded to meet some of the costs of supplementary dry cask storage at reactor sites. About $12.2 billion had been paid to utilities by September 2025.
Under new standard contracts with the DOE, proponents of new reactor construction must undertake to store used fuel onsite indefinitely, so that the DOE does not become liable for delays. The contracts specify that the DOE will begin removing used fuel within 20 years of the first refuelling. After the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC’s) Waste Confidence Rule was challenged, the process continues under the Continued Spent Fuel Storage Rule.
The Blue Ribbon Commission's report to Congress in January 2012 recommended the development of centralized interim storage, establishing a new organization outside the DOE to manage the US used fuel program. In January 2013 the DOE announced a new approach based on the report.
In response to this, two consolidated interim storage facilities (CISFs) for used fuel were proposed. In Texas, Interim Storage Partners, a joint venture of Waste Control Specialists (WCS) and Orano, received an NRC licence in September 2021 for the first phase of its facility. The facility was planned eventually to hold up to 40,000 tonnes of fuel. In June 2025 Interim Storage Partners said it would not proceed without the consent of the State of Texas. In New Mexico, Holtec received an NRC licence in May 2023 for its HI-STORE facility. Holtec and the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance cancelled the project in October 2025.
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) repository for defence-related transuranic waste, located underground in a salt formation in Carlsbad, New Mexico began disposal operations in 1999 as a purpose-built deep geological repository.
For LLW, disposal facilities operate at: Barnwell, South Carolina – operated by EnergySolutions; Richland, Washington – operated by US Ecology (formerly American Ecology Corporation); Clive, Utah – operated by EnergySolutions; and the Texas Compact Facility – operated by WCS.
Responsible agencies
Regulators: US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC); US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Agency with responsibility for radioactive waste management: US Department of Energy (DOE)
Funding
- Utilities paid a USD 0.1 ¢/kWh into the Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF).
- By September 2025 utilities had paid about $21.8 billion into the NWF. It had also earned about $37.3 billion in interest and other income.
- About $7.5 billion has been spent from it on the Yucca Mountain program. Its balance was about $51.4 billion in September 2025.
- The fund received over $750 million in fees each year.
- In November 2013 a federal appeals court unanimously ruled that the DOE should cease collecting the fees from utilities. The DOE stopped collecting the waste fees in May 2014.