Don,
Then why is Europe trying to ship theirs to us? Why don't they store theirs on site? Erik Dave,
The disposal is not a major problem if we allow reprocessing of spent fuel rods on site. What is left is low level radioactive materials that can be stored on site. The problem is the US is unwilling to allow the reprocessing of spent fuel rods because of terrorism concerns about the plutonium produced. See http://www.chemcases.com/nuclear/nc-13.htm With Obama closing the Yucca site reprocessing makes the most sense but the facilities must be carefully guarded.
Don
-----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Dave Bennett Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 7:30 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Wind Energy
It ain't the efficiency of nuclear that I'm worried about...it's that pesky spent fuel thing:
From Wiki: As of 2007, the United States had accumulated more than 50,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel from nuclear reactors. Underground storage at Yucca Mountain in U.S. has been proposed as permanent storage. After 10,000 years of radioactive decay, according to United States Environmental Protection Agency standards, the spent nuclear fuel will no longer pose a threat to public health and safety.
Thats only 400 generations give or take. What do they say? If they can't take a joke...
Dave
On Mar 11, 2009, at 7:09 PM, Patrick Wiggins wrote:
Still, until the efficiency of wind catches up with nuclear, I've no problem with nuclear.
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