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This is not a problem with nuclear energy, not directly. This is a political and defense industry issue. The US actively does not want to recycle its nuclear w

This is not a problem with nuclear energy, not directly. This is a political and defense industry issue. The US actively does not want to recycle its nuclear waste. It is a valuable resource to have on hand if you want to one day build more bombs. Equally, keeping all that plutonium locked up as "waste" arguably keeps it out of the hands of bad people. Should the US decide to start actually recycling this stuff, the bulk of the transport/disposal problem disappears. >> The decision to halt commercial nuclear recycling sends a clear message that the United States is committed to nuclear non-proliferation. Such decisions, together with diplomacy such as that taking place in Russia, are deliberate and encouraging first steps towards building an international consensus on reducing the threat from nuclear weapons. https://www.nature.com/articles/460152b https://www.nature.com/articles/460152b

chickenbig 2y ago
> Equally, keeping all that plutonium locked up as "waste" arguably keeps it out of the hands of bad people. https://thebulletin.org/2020/04/britain-has-139-tons-of-plutonium-thats-a-real-problem/ https://thebulletin.org/2020/04/britain-has-139-tons-of-plut... Meanwhile in the UK we've got 139 tons of the stuff from the Magnox program. It was disappointing to see in the Civil Nuclear roadmap to 2050 (from earlier this year) decided against making use of this tremendous resource (although the precise wording does not rule out use in MOX which is presumably an existing and so not an "Advanced Technology"). https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-nuclear-roadmap-to-2050/civil-nuclear-roadmap-to-2050-accessible-webpage https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-nuclear-roa... We are providing clarity to vendors by committing not to support the use of plutonium stored at Sellafield by Advanced Nuclear Technologies whilst high hazard reduction activities are prioritised at Sellafield. Note Plutonium from a power reactor is not "weapons grade" due to the presence of less desirable isotopes because of prolonged irradiation.

chickenbig 2y ago

> Equally, keeping all that plutonium locked up as "waste" arguably keeps it out of the hands of bad people. https://thebulletin.org/2020/04/britain-has-139-tons-of-plutonium-thats-a-real-problem/ https://thebulletin.org/2020/04/britain-has-139-tons-of-plut... Meanwhile in the UK we've got 139 tons of the stuff from the Magnox program. It was disappointing to see in the Civil Nuclear roadmap to 2050 (from earlier this year) decided against making use of this tremendous resource (although the precise wording does not rule out use in MOX which is presumably an existing and so not an "Advanced Technology"). https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-nuclear-roadmap-to-2050/civil-nuclear-roadmap-to-2050-accessible-webpage https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-nuclear-roa... We are providing clarity to vendors by committing not to support the use of plutonium stored at Sellafield by Advanced Nuclear Technologies whilst high hazard reduction activities are prioritised at Sellafield. Note Plutonium from a power reactor is not "weapons grade" due to the presence of less desirable isotopes because of prolonged irradiation.