https://cen.acs.org/environment/pollution/nuclear-waste-pilesscientists-seek-best/98/i12
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Nuclear power is a green power source with a big problem- persistent radioactive waste. In the United States, there is over 90,000 tons of radioactive waste and 96- commerical nuclear reactors adding to this number. Most nuclear waste is stored in dry casks, but this waste is mounting up without a long-term plan. We need real solutions to this problem, and if we want to pursue a green-energy portfolio we need to take concrete actions sooner rather than later.
The United States generates 2,000 tons of nuclear waste per year. This is a large amount of waste, and much of it is stored in fuel ponds and dry storage without a long-term disposal location. The Yucca Mountain selection incident in which the location for nuclear waste disposal was selected and then subsequently disqualified and the Federal Government was sued over this was a black mark on public and industry perspective. We need a Yucca Mountain type location to store this waste, and we need a way to make it stick.
How can we handle all this waste and still maintain a green energy profile for the nuclear industry? I have written about Thorium reactors that can run using spent fuel rods that are classified as "high-level" radioactive waste. Vitrification of waste is also a solution that has been trialed in which waste is turned to glass and stored in vaults. Utilities and generators of nuclear waste used to pay fees to the United States federal government to develop a permeant location for disposal of nuclear waste, but this ended when the government was sued due to inaction. A total of nine geological storage sites were found and Yucca Mountain was developed, but political action ended this mission. The current fund for nuclear waste disposal stands at $44 billion. We need to use this fund for its intended purpose.
We need a number of solutions for this problem. We need a combination of storage sites for both low-level radioactive waste and high-level radioactive waste that is unusable. We need recycled fuel reactors and breeder reactors that can create more fuel than we use by producing neutrons. Recycling low and high-level waste and then vitrification of unacceptable waste can be a good way to handle it. We need sorting criteria and places for the unacceptable radioactive debris.
Nuclear waste is radioactive and dangerous for thousands of years after it was once used. Vitrification, or turning a mix of waste into glass and putting it into a container is a current method for storing nuclear waste, and many wastes are simply put into boxes and containers and stored in trenches or tanks of liquid waste. The buried boxes and tanks are excavated and their contents are evaluated for vitrification or recycling. Yucca Mountain and certain subduction zones have been evaluated for waste disposition and storage, but these have been widely ruled out for political reasons.
The Yucca Mountain problem has put a negative public slant on nuclear waste handling and disposition. Legacy nuclear sites are also filled with hazardous waste including sodium metal, mercury, berylium and a host of volatile organic compounds used processing. If we want to handle the 2,000 tons of waste we currently produce annually and more for additional reactor production, we need to get a plan together and take proactive steps forward.
Published on Hive, Blurt and Steemit
