How a proper spent nuclear fuel management strategy can enhance the continuity of nuclear power in the energy mix. The Mariño Model

This paper presents the Mariño Model, a model created to estimate the costs of different strategies for spent nuclear fuel management in Spain. One of the main purposes of the paper is to determine which strategy accommodates better the particularities of the Spanish context, in order to help establish a stable plan for spent nuclear management in Spain. As nuclear waste is one of the major issues towards nuclear acceptance amongst the public, if it were to be properly solved and the public is well informed and involved in the decision-making process, its acceptability could be increased. Thus, nuclear power could still have an important role in mitigating climate change.The results show that the strategy proposed in the VI General Plan for Radioactive Waste in 2006 is no longer the most suitable option, with 4340.21M€ in opposition to a strategy without a centralized interim storage with 2653.97M€. Also, a strategy with a different centralized interim storage design has lower costs (3079.82 M€).