nuclear-news

Nuclear wastes- deep burial is the only option

Worldwide, 240,000 tonnes of spent fuel from nuclear reactors is in storage, mostly in surface facilities, according to Alexander Bychkov of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The pile of spent fuel — which remains dangerously radioactive for several hundred thousand years — continues to grow at a rate of 11,000 tonnes a year.

“Wait and see is not an option; you would put an undue burden on future generations.”

Nuclear waste: bury it deep, say the planners The Star.com,  October 01, 2012
 John Spears Business Reporter Don’t expect the cut and thrust of debate when nuclear waste planners gather to discuss what to do with the world’s tonnes of radioactive spent fuel.

That argument is over, an international conference heard Monday. We have to bury it deep, delegates were told. And we have to do it now. “There is no alternative to geological disposal,” bluntly declared Luis Echavarri, of the OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency.

And few inside the conference walls at the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Telus Centre were about to argue the point.

Planners from Sweden and Finland have already tentatively selected
sites for what is termed in the industry a deep geologic repository.

France is working on an underground solution as well. And Canada’s
Nuclear Waste Management Organization is looking for a volunteer
community to host a deep underground site, with 21 communities showing
at least preliminary interest.

There’s plenty of waste to store.

Worldwide, 240,000 tonnes of spent fuel from nuclear reactors is in storage, mostly in surface facilities, according to Alexander Bychkov of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The pile of spent fuel — which remains dangerously radioactive for several hundred thousand years — continues to grow at a rate of 11,000 tonnes a year.

The need to find a safe way, right now, of permanently dealing with
the waste is urgent, the conference was told.

As Ute Blohm-Hieber of the European Commission put it:

“Wait and see is not an option; you would put an undue burden on
future generations.”

Not all projects are moving forward smoothly; the U.S. backed away
from its plans to inter its nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

But Thomas Isaacs, lead advisor to the blue ribbon panel set up to
advise the U.S. after Yucca Mountain’s cancellation, said that setback
doesn’t lessen the urgency.

“We have an obligation to this generation to provide a solution,” he said.

While all agree that public acceptance is necessary, the planners
worry about getting citizens’ minds around the problem of how to store
nuclear waste for hundreds of thousands of years. “The level of
ignorance about nuclear matters in the general public is
breathtaking,” sighed Michael Binder, who heads the Canadian Nuclear
Safety Commission, during a panel discussion…….
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1265098–nuclear-waste-bury-it-deep-say-the-planners

October 3, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, wastes