Steam controller flash backs Pass
The nuclear industry has developed – and implemented – most of the necessary technologies required for the final disposal of all of the waste it produces. The remaining issue is one of public acceptance, and not of technological feasibility.
The amount of waste produced by the nuclear power industry is small relative to other industrial activities. 97% of the waste produced is classified as low- or intermediate-level waste (LLW or ILW). Such waste has been widely disposed of in near-surface repositories for many years. In France, where fuel is reprocessed, just 0.2% of all radioactive waste by volume is classified as high-level waste (HLW).a
- Nuclear waste is hazardous for tens of thousands of years. This clearly is unprecedented and poses a huge threat to our future generations
Many industries produce hazardous and toxic waste. All toxic waste needs to be dealt with safely, not just radioactive waste.
The radioactivity of nuclear waste naturally decays, and has a finite radiotoxic lifetime. Within a period of 1,000-10,000 years, the radioactivity of HLW decays to that of the originally mined ore. Its hazard then depends on how concentrated it is. By comparison, other industrial wastes (e.g. heavy metals, such as cadmium and mercury) remain hazardous indefinitely.
Most nuclear waste produced is hazardous, due to its radioactivity, for only a few tens of years and is routinely disposed of in near-surface disposal facilities (see above). Only a small volume of nuclear waste (~3% of the total) is long-lived and highly radioactive and requires isolation from the environment for many thousands of years.
International conventions define what is hazardous in terms of radiation dose, and national regulations limit allowable doses accordingly. Well-developed industry technology ensures that these regulations are met so that any hazardous waste is handled in a way it poses no risk to human health or the environment. Waste is converted into a stable form that is suitable for disposal. In the case of HLW, a multi-barrier approach, combining containment and geological disposal, ensures isolation of the waste from people and the environment for thousands of years.
High Level Waste makes up .2% of all waste generated by nuclear facilities, Plutonium being a minority of that. Geostorage was implimented because of military applications of plutonium that expired and had to be stored. Over a third of all nuclear waste in the US is military waste. But because Plutonium is part of high level waste all HLW is treated as if it's plutonium because of the overzealous safety standards. You can not produce plutonium from uranium in a fissile reaction. That's not how fission works. The actual fissile products from spent fuel decay below background radiation in under 100 years.
About 400,000 tonnes of used fuel has been discharged from reactors worldwide, with about one-third having been reprocessed.
The only misinformation I'm seeing in this conversation is you not understanding what nuclear waste actually is, how much is actually produced, and how long it persists. A process we are getting better and better at reducing the amount of waste every decade inspite of people like you trying to kill nuclear for no other reason than you buy into all of big oil's lies and misinformation about it.
There you go again with that 100k years number which is a made up number. Fissile products from reactors decay in under 100 years. The only stays radioactive that long is plutonium. Which is not a fissile product or spent fuel.
The cost goes up entirely due to red tape and lobbying from fossil fuel organizations. Remove the boot that is nuclear fear induced largely by oil companies and actually commit to nuclear R&D and the cost will drop. And even the recent breakthroughs China made with Thorium made are genuine, even more so. And unlike every other power generation industry, nuclear operators are mandated by law to put aside funding to handle waste. Tell me which solar industry members are doing anything about PFAS generated in their production or wind turbine operators who give a damn about how many landfills they are flooding with expired turbine blades.
The only agenda I have to push is making sure our grandchildren have a future that isn't a collapse to pre-industrial living if not total extinction. Nuclear is very much a leg of that future as much as renewables like wind and solar, but hydro needs to go for the massive damage it caused ecological systems. If that's something you're against then I don't understand what horse you have in the energy race.
The rate of expansion and energy production, we need nuclear for base loads just as much as we need wind for flex loads. Every other solution is a delusional, a disservice or outright submission to corporate greed that got us in this mess to begin with.
https://euobserver.com/green-economy/arf0893c11
This was not even two years ago. Germany killed old plants yes but stopped construction for new ones. Which resulted in an energy deficit compounded by a desire to move away from Russian gas, hence turbines being ripped out to expand coal.
I have no idea where you're getting "100k years of waste" from, that's completely nonsense. Everything else about your comment even more so.
Nickels and dimes sure. Not sure why you'd ditch the dollar yet, it still has buying power. And dropping paper dollars for dollar coins is pants on head levels of stupid
In what way does nuclear get less feasible? It's the safest form of power per kw even when you weigh down the stats with crap like Chernobyl that never would have left drawing paper in the west, and uses the least amount of land so that low carbon footprint means something where we aren't tearing down trees as power demands expand.
This isn't even remotely true. Japan builds nuclear reactor in average of 5 years.
Edit for the down vote brigade:
80% or all nuclear reactors go from official planning to commercial production in under 10 years.
The longest process in building a nuclear reactor is cutting through red tape and getting permits cause of all the NIMBY and idiots progating mytha and lies about nuclear that originate in fossil fuels lobby.
Nuclear is the most ecologically friendly and safe power generation source we have until industrial scale fusion gets hammered out.
German nuclear plants were closed because propaganda. They then demolished a wind turbine park to expand a coal mine to make up for the lost nuclear power.
Mom never supported any kind of sexual education and definitely refuses any kind of healthy and mature conversation with the poor kid.
Dude just wants to crater the US economy, specifically the stock market, and kill what credibility the US has thrived on since WW2. Can't help but feel Putin has a finger in this cause a weak US makes Russia look stronger.
Not sure what to tell you, live near the IA border and people to south to get cheep cigarettes and people come north to get weed products. Only complaints people have is the half hour drive of corn fields.
Trump almost does something actually a good idea. Can't wait to find out how this admin fucks it up...
We have more snow and northern, humid heat. Summer average is 80s but peaks over 100 few times a year. So humid you can shower on Monday and still be wet behind the ears come Tuesday. And the mosquito is the state bird.
I live near a dispensary and they sell a lot more than that, I think it's only hemp that's restricted. Edibles and stuff you can buy the pound of you can swallow the taxes.
This entire post reads "I don't know how to camp/go backpacking.
Get yourself a travel air mattress or sleeping pad, probably a better sleeping bag. Solves the lack of sleep and sore back.
Get a proper tent that's water proof and learn how to set it up properly so water doesn't pool under it. Make sure the vents have good mosquito netting to keep bugs our, and never have the entry unzipped a second longer than it takes to get in and out of.
For the mice, don't have food in unsealed containers and if you're in bear country you should be hanging a bear bag at least 100 feet (30m~ ) from you campsite, make sure cook wear and utensils are all properly cleaned too. Some newer tents even have a pouch built in near the door to seal a bag into, minimizing the chance of something deciding to make it a new home.
Did an AI try to recreate this image?
The people of New Zealand unsure what kind of pandemic is spreading across the world.