When nuclear fuel is used in reactors it is still extremely dangerous for a very long time after the reaction has taken place. Plutonium 239 has a half-life of around 24,000 years, meaning that if exposed it would continue to pollute the environment for thousands of generations.
The amount of storage capacity for spent fuel at nuclear power plants will soon exceed the available storage capacity. As of 2006 it was expected that on site storage capacity would be exceeded in all reactors by 2015. With strict laws about where waste can be stored, what will happen to the waste?
When stored on site, fuel rods are kept cool by continuously running refrigerated water over them. These facilities are a constant expense and must be operational at all times. The dangers of storing such material are emphasised by the 2010 Fukushima incident in which cooling liquid leaked into the environment. The cost of storage is an issue for power companies, and driven by greed can lead to ineffective storage and control of where waste is kept.
Spent Fuel Cooling Pool
Spent Fuel Cooling Pool
The town where I spent my exchange has just recently become the victim of contaminated waste dumping. This was on the bank of Japans largest lake with complete disregard for human life.
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The fact that spent fuel and cooling waste must be kept out of the environment should be reason alone that using these kinds of materials to produce electricity is the wrong decision for Japan. This case shows how there can be such little regard placed on the safety of human life over money. |
this was very interesting to read and i enjoyed every bit of it. great work.
ReplyDeleteThank-you for your comment. To see the rest of it click "older posts" there are 2 more posts after this one :)
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