Nuclear energy can generate vast quantities of energy 365 days a year around the clock and reactor technology and the storage of spent fuel are relatively safe, but there is “no clear strategy for long-term storage of nuclear waste in most countries”, a report has warned.

The Credit Suisse Nuclear Energy Report 2022 says safe storage for several hundred thousand years is of “paramount importance”. Every year, around 10,000 tonnes of nuclear waste are created worldwide. Currently, 263,000 tonnes of spent fuel are in interim storage facilities worldwide, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency estimates.

Used nuclear fuel is mostly stored in the pools within the nuclear unit itself in interim storage facilities above ground which have a high degree of safety. Many countries are still looking at this material as a resource, not as a waste.