Nuclear energy is revived but what happens to the waste
| Currently, over 90,000 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel are stored in 39 states. There are 73 nuclear plants for commercial purposes and over three dozen university and government facilities, according to a report from 2024 at the National Laboratory in the Northwest Pacific. |
The waste has been stored in exhaust fuel repositories and dry containers intended for temporary storage since the nuclear industry in the United States began to develop in the 1960s, and the refusal of the Ministry of Energy to completely disposed of the waste, as required by law, worth tens of billions.
By law, the Ministry of Energy is obliged to accept and store worked nuclear fuel, but since a permanent burial facility has not been built, the government pays utility services from $ 600 to $ 800 million every year compensation for non -expelled nuclear waste.
New attempts to store nuclear fuel away from nuclear power plants have also been criticized. The US Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case that will be crucial to whether private companies can temporarily store spent nuclear fuel near Texas and New Mexico facilities.
Trump and Chris Wright will revive accelerated nuclear energy in the United States
According to civil servants, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has exceeded its powers when it has issued licenses for the facilities. A decision on the case is not expected to be taken until later this year.
| Meanwhile, nuclear reactors continue to provide nearly 20% of electricity in the United States and produce about 2000 tonnes of waste each year. As the number of plants that meet the needs of database centers, industrial factories, homes and electric vehicles, nuclear waste will increase even more. |
The first new reactors of 30 years were completed in 2024 in Georgia. There are plans to reopen the closed reactors in Michigan, Iowa, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.
It is irresponsible to build new reactors if the waste problem is not resolved.
Alison McFarlanonChairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Committee from 2012 to 2014.
He is currently the director of the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Colombia.
Other nuclear sides faster build nuclear storage facilities for waste
Finland ends the latest tests in an underground place with a depth of 458 m, which is expected to work in 2026. The country has 5 reactors that produce about a third of the country’s energy.
| 70% of the electricity of France is produced from nuclear energy, with 96% of the waste being recycled into new fuel. The residue is stored in a centralized cooling pool in Normandy. The French authorities are expecting construction in 2027 at a permanent underground storage in northeastern France, which will be operational by 2035. |
In November, the Canadian authorities chose a permanent place for rock -based nuclear northwestern northwestern.
- US efforts have been dead decades ago when a $ 15 billion project to build a permanent underground storage in Mount Yuka, Nevada, was stopped because of the resistance of some staff in the state, according to a report of 2021 by the government’s reporting service.
- The failure of the Mount Juka Mountain Repository project has cast a shadow on efforts to build a permanent place to bury, interviews with nuclear experts, politicians and selected officials show.
« There are no technical problems, no engineering problems, » said Paul Murray, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Energy for Exhaust Fuel and the Disposal of High Active Waste, during the Webinar on November 26th. « We are trying to build public trust and political will to do something essential. We have conducted all the studies we have to do. »
- Until a permanent repository is built, Interim Storage Partners, a joint venture between Orano USA, a nuclear energy removal company, and a Waste Control Specialists, a Texas burial company at the time of the contains at the time. Radioactive waste.
- Separately, Holtec International, a nuclear engineering company, offered an underground storage for dry containers in New Mexico, about 64 km from the Texas facility, which can store 8680 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel.
In 2023, the Federal Court of Texas revealed that the National Civil Register had exceeded its powers by granting a license allowing Interim Storage Partners to store exhaust fuel in their territory for 40 years with the ability to extend the license. The same vessel blocked the Holtec license for temporary storage in New Mexico in 2024.
The Supreme Court is yet to decide whether the storage in New Mexico can continue to function.
Even if these temporary storage facilities are built, some elements of spent nuclear fuel remain radioactive for thousands of years, while federal law requires the permanent storage that is 10 thousand years. This means constantly geological storage in a deep, dry place and far from active earthquake zones.
| The typical nuclear reactor contains between 121 and 193 fuel cassettes, each of which holds about 3.7-meter uranium fuel rods, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Each cartridge includes from 179 to 264 fuel rods. |
After five to seven years, the uranium begins to fall apart, which imposes about one -third of the fuel cartridges every 18 months to be removed from the reactor and moved to the exhaust pool.
The typical pool is about 12 meters deep and can have an area of over 12 square meters. Its walls are between 1.2 and 2.4 meters thick, made of reinforced concrete and lined with stainless steel. The exhaust fuel is stored in at least 6 meters of water, which serves as a radiation protection and cooling environment.
When the pools are filled, the exhaust fuel cartridges are transferred to dry containers for long -term storage.
By law, the Ministry of Energy is obliged to accept and store spent nuclear fuel, but since a permanent burial facility has never been completed, the government pays utility services from $ 600 to $ 800 million each year for failed waste.
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