Table 1.13. Quantities of discharged spent fuel (in ton) at the end of 2013 (source: [IAEA 18a]). NP: not provided
| Geographical area | Wet storage | Dry storage | Reprocessing | Total |
| Africa | 850 | 50 | NP | 900 |
| Eastern Europe | 28,600 | 7,700 | 3,200 | 40,000 |
| Western Europe | 37,000 | 4,600 | 108,000 | 154,100 |
| Far East | 32,100 | 5,700 | 8,600 | 46,400 |
| North America | 79,300 | 41,900 | NP | 131,200 |
| Latin America | 3,000 | 2,000 | NP | 5,000 |
| Grand total | 180,800 | 56,900 | 120,300 | 367,600 |
The storage of spent fuel is carried out for 81% near the producing reactor (59% under water and 22% dry) and for 15% far from this reactor (13% under water and 2% dry), and for the remaining 4% the storage is not known [IAE 18a].
Figure 1.4 highlights the significant quantities of solid radioactive waste worldwide. The less hazardous categories of waste (VLLW and LLW) are larger than the more hazardous ones (ILW and HLW). However, it should be noted that the final solutions are more effective for the former categories compared to the solutions not found for the more hazardous ones.
Figure 1.4. Summary of global inventories of solid radioactive waste in storage and disposal (source: [IAE 18a]). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/amiard/radioactive.zip
The distribution of solid waste at the end of 2013 by major waste categories and by geographical area is presented in Table 1.14.
Table 1.14. Quantities of solid waste (in m3) at the end of 2013 (source: [IAE 18a])
| Geographical area | VLLW | LLW | ILW | HLW |
| Africa | 7,000 | 20,000 | 1,000 | 0 |
| Eastern Europe | 15,000 | 2,479,000 | 101,000 | 7,000 |
| Western Europe | 224,000 | 355,000 | 269,000 | 6,000 |
| Far East | 5,000 | 331,000 | 4,000 | 0 |
| North America | 2,105,000 | 248,000 | 84,000 | 8,000 |
| Latin America | 0 | 37,000 | 0 | 0 |
| Middle East and South Asia | 0 | 3,000 | 0 | 0 |
| East Asia and Pacific | 0 | 5,000 | 1,000 | 0 |
| Grand total | 2,356,600 | 3,479,000 | 460,000 | 22,000 |
Figure 1.5. Global origins of radioactive waste in 2013 for A) storage and B) final disposal (source: [IAE 18a]). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/amiard/radioactive.zip
Worldwide, the majority of radioactive waste comes from dismantling operations (49% and 66%, respectively, depending on whether the storage is interim or final) (Figure 1.5).
Globally, the volumes of radioactive waste at the end of 2013, both solid and liquid, in interim and final storage, for the various categories are shown in Tables 1.15 and 1.16. LLW is the largest category.
Table 1.15. Radioactive waste in temporary storage globally at the end of 2013 (in m3) (source: [IAE 18a])
| Category | Solid | Liquid | Total |
| VLLW | 2,356,000 | 2,356,000 | |
| LLW | 3,479,000 |