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Because of nuclear's high energy density, it's the only energy source that we can account for and store all the waste for the entire lifetime. It is solid ceram
by acidburnNSA 7y ago
Because of nuclear's high energy density, it's the only energy source that we can account for and store all the waste for the entire lifetime. It is solid ceramic waste that sits in passively cooled steel and concrete containers on parking lots. 3 decades of waste powering a large city fit in a small parking lot. Commercial nuclear waste has never injured anyone. We have consensus technical solutions (deep geologic repository), including one operational repository at WIPP. We just have to get people to stop stonewalling so we can put it in them.
Here's my buddy Jim standing in a parking lot full of decades worth of nuclear waste [1].
The Finns decided to solve their nuclear waste issues and have a repository under construction. [2]
Meanwhile, millions die per year from air pollution and carbon concentration just peaked 415 ppm. I think nuclear waste is honestly a tiny concern compared to those things.
Nuclear operations are not hugely subsidized in the US. They get about 1% of the tax subsidies given to energy sources. They are struggling economically because fracked natural gas pulled the floor out of electricity prices, and nuclear O&M can't just reduce itself with lower fossil prices. In France, where natural gas is more expensive, their nuclear fleet is 20% cheaper than gas.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUvvIzH2W6g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUvvIzH2W6g
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onkalo_spent_nuclear_fuel_repository https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onkalo_spent_nuclear_fuel_repo...
- ljf 7y agoYou are (purposefully?) confusing spent nuclear fuel and nuclear waste. Many hundreds of thousands or tonnes of HLW are produced each year and also need dealing with.
- acidburnNSA 7y agoLong-lived high-level nuclear waste, colloquially known as nuclear waste, as in "but what do you do with the waste" IS spent nuclear fuel. There's also low-level rad waste that goes in special landfills but no one worries too much about that. This is fission products, actinides, and uranium-238. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_waste#High-level_waste https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_waste#High-level_w...