That deconversion process will take another 15-20 years [1] if the Paducah and Portsmouth plants are at the planned utilization, which AFAIK hasn't been true si

That deconversion process will take another 15-20 years [1] if the Paducah and Portsmouth plants are at the planned utilization, which AFAIK hasn't been true since at least the 2013 budget sequestration. Our UF6 isn't going away for another few decades. > Those uranium oxides sat in the ore bodies for billions of years without causing trouble. We've found ground water that is contaminated not only by uranium from coal plant ash ponds [2], uranium mines [3], ore processing [4], and flooding [5] but from the untouched ores lining natural underground aquifers as well [6]. > There are almost certainly gigantic uranium ore deposits underneath the ocean. No one is worrying about them. Any ore deposit is compressed for eons under pressure that is hundreds, or thousands, of times greater than anything we experience on a day to day basis, or even at the extremes of our technology. There's a huge difference between nature's long term storage and our temporary tin cans. [1] http://www.nrc.gov/materials/fuel-cycle-fac/ur-deconversion.html http://www.nrc.gov/materials/fuel-cycle-fac/ur-deconversion.... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_poisoning_in_Punjab http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_poisoning_in_Punjab [3] http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14894696 http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14894696 [4] http://www.epa.gov/radiation/docs/tenorm/402-r-08-005-voli/402-r-08-005-v1-ch4.pdf http://www.epa.gov/radiation/docs/tenorm/402-r-08-005-voli/4... [5] http://energy.gov/lm/articles/doe-releases-data-summary-report-groundwater-and-soil-tests-conducted http://energy.gov/lm/articles/doe-releases-data-summary-repo... [6] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/088329279490037X http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/08832927949...