nuclear-news

Nuclear revival? – but waste problem still not solved!

Nuclear Power Revival for GE Leaves Waste Unsolved By Jeremy van Loon

Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) — When 65 scientists met at Princeton University in 1955 to decide where to permanently store radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, their conclusion was simple: Bury it deep underground, far from earthquakes.

Since then, reactors worldwide have produced 270,000 tons of spent fuel, storing most of it in canisters above ground.U.S. regulators, reviewing 18 applications to build new atomic plants, said last month they may approve such temporary storage for as long as 40 years, double the current allowable time.

Governments across the globe are endorsing similar plans to temporarily warehouse their carcinogenic waste, helping clear the way for a revival in nuclear-plant construction that has given about $115 billion in contracts to General Electric Co., Toshiba Corp.’s Westinghouse unit and Paris-based Areva SA.

“New plants will continue to be built with no concern for where to put the spent fuel,” said Georgui Kastchiev, senior scientist for nuclear safety at the University of Vienna’s Institute of Risk Research. “A solution to the problem is constantly being moved to some point further in the future.”

The new reactors will pile up radioactive waste, which already grows by 12,000 tons a year, the International Energy Agency in Paris estimated.

Nuclear Power Revival for GE Leaves Waste Unsolved (Update2) – Bloomberg.com

October 21, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, 2 WORLD, wastes | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium, wastes