nuclear-news

 Georgia, home to the Vogtle and Hatch nuclear plants, holds more than 2,700 tons of it; South Carolina, home to four plants, is sitting on more than 4,900 tons. Combined, the two states have shoveled more than $2 billion down the Yucca Mountain hole.

 Ironically, Obama’s home state of Illinois ranks No. 1 in nuclear waste, with more than 9,000 tons.

 WITH USED-FUEL POOLS full, plant operators started to free up pool space for newer, “hotter” fuel assemblies by moving the oldest ones to “dry-cask storage” containers –150-ton steel-and-concrete “casks” that sit above ground. The air-cooled caks are designed to be earthquake-proof, hurricane-proof and capable of withstanding an attack from conventional weapons.

 Southern Co.’s Plant Vogtle, one of the nation’s youngest plants, has just now hit its pool limit and is transitioning to a dry-cask system at a cost of about $200 million. That’s on top of the estimated $14 billion Vogtle’s co-owners are spending to build Units 3 and 4…