The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has released the first publicly available interactive database detailing the world’s used (spent) nuclear fuel (SNF), both stored and reprocessed by country and region. The data is based on what countries themselves report. The Global SNF Inventory Tool replaces decades of individual estimates with a complete picture enabling comparisons.
It is the second edition of the IAEA’s Global SNF Inventory. The first, published in 2019, presented data as static infographics from that year’s reporting cycle of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management. The new interactive version is also based on data submitted under the 2025 Joint Convention reporting cycle but is supplemented by other publicly available information.
The Joint Convention is the principal international legal instrument to address the safety of spent fuel and radioactive waste management on a global scale. It does so based on a peer-review process among Contracting Parties and its periodic national reports give the tool its foundation.
“The newly developed IAEA spent fuel data tool provides a transparent and accessible platform for exploring spent fuel management strategies across member states,” said Amparo Gonzalez Espartero, Technical Lead in the IAEA Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology.
The tool puts the global total of SNF at about 448,000 tonnes of heavy metal (tHM), the standard unit for the uranium and other heavy elements in power reactor fuel. Of the total, about 322,000 tonnes, are in storage and 126,000 tonnes, has been reprocessed.
The countries with the most SNF in storage are the USA with 94,666 tHM, some 29.4% of the total, and Canada with 63,466 tHM (19.7%).
The lead countries with reprocessed SNF are the UK with 57,073 tHM, some 45.4% of the total and France with 39,839 tHM (31.7%).
In terms of stored SNF, 41% is in wet storage, mainly the pools that cool SNF after it leaves the reactor and other centralized pools. Another 31% is in dry storage which are the casks, buildings, and modular systems used for keeping the fuel under dry conditions.
Dry storage is further broken down into different technologies. Ventilated vertical units hold the largest share at 50,168 tonnes, or about 11% of the discharged SNF. Concrete casks follow at 34,006 tonnes (7.6%), then metallic casks at 18,009 tonnes (4%), horizontal units at 17,360 tonnes (4%), storage buildings at 10,733 tonnes (2.4%), and non-ventilated vertical units at 8,671 tonnes (2%).
“By displaying information on worldwide spent fuel inventories in a structured manner, including reprocessed and stored spent fuel in different storage systems, the tool benefits technical analysis, and facilitates informed discussions on long-term spent fuel management strategies among countries and interested stakeholders,” Gonzalez Espartero said.
