A cost/risk framework is developed to compare waste management alternatives such as partitioning and transmutation (P-T) to the currently open light water reactor fuel cycle in the United States in which spent fuel will be buried in a geologic repository. This framework has utility for developing economic values associated with long-term risk and was originally developed as part of a system study to define and determine the scope of the driving features of a P-T scheme involving nonconventional (pyrochemical) reprocessing and a fast-spectrum reactor fueled primarily with minor actinides. A potentially significant benefit is shown to be obtainable in the form of reduced long-term repository health risks; although the primary risk reduction is derived from the destruction or selective packaging and disposal of 99Tc and 129I, the modification of probabilities associated with site-specific repository features or highly uncertain future events could affect these results. The potential benefits are represented as a cost stream and appear as a large annual investment available for the development and implementation of P-T. Preliminary results suggest further studies in selected areas; a particularly significant near-term health risk benefit is expected to arise from reduced uranium mining and purification activities associated with the closure of the currently open fuel cycle. Although the cost/risk framework was originally developed to evaluate a specific waste management concept, similar analyses can be used to evaluate other waste management schemes as well. Reprocessing of spent fuel to recover specific problem isotopes is an obvious possibility but may lack the overall flexibility engendered in P-T to address the complete spectrum of public concerns.