I changed my mind about nuclear waste
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I changed my mind about nuclear waste
1–10 of 428 posts
Re: I changed my mind about nuclear waste
#2I don’t think nuclear is evil, but Rosie’s look at the financials suggests there are better options: https://youtu.be/quI_8xYSWYE
Re: I changed my mind about nuclear waste
#3Once waste has made it to dry cask storage, it's not much of a problem. But there are still too many spent fuel rods in cooling pools at power stations.
That stuff was supposed to go to Yucca Mountain, but for political reasons, that didn't happen.
Re: I changed my mind about nuclear waste
#4Excellent post and very informative. Nuclear power production is the only way forward if we want to have a chance of not completely destroying our environment.
Let’s hope that nuclear fusion will become mainstream sooner than later.
Re: I changed my mind about nuclear waste
#5Thank you. I believe all environmentalists need to curb their fear and absorb a healthy dose of science. It would limit the outpouring of outrageous, fear-mongering statements to leave some room for serious adult discussions on how to tackle the energy problems we face as a species.
Re: I changed my mind about nuclear waste
#6>I learned that I had been confusing waste from nuclear energy with waste from nuclear weapons.
That is a rhetorical tactic that kind of misses the point - it's not that weapons reactors produce fundamentally leakier waste than civilian reactors, it's that the military has a long history of not disposing of dangerous chemicals the right way. It happens with non-radioactive toxic waste too and a lot of bases and the areas around them are contaminated.
If you want to use this as an argument for the safety of nuclear waste disposal, you would have to explain why the armed force's problems with waste disposal are specific to them and will never spread to regulated private industry. (P.S. the history of that is not great either and you might end up arguing that something which has already happened never will.)
Re: I changed my mind about nuclear waste
#7I don’t think nuclear is evil, but Rosie’s look at the financials suggests there are better options: https://youtu.be/quI_8xYSWYE
Disclaimer: I did not watch the video linked.
For what it's worth, I do agree, but I think we'll probably need to have (subsidized) nuclear as part of the solution anyways, especially in places where we don't have ample room for wind/solar/battery storage.
Re: I changed my mind about nuclear waste
#8> I learned that I had been confusing waste from nuclear energy with waste from nuclear weapons. That is a rhetorical tactic that kind of misses the point - it's not that weapons reactors produce fundamentally leakier waste than civilian reactors, it's that the military has a long history of not disposing of dangerous chemicals the right way. It happens with non-radioactive toxic waste too and a lot of bases and the…
I think this part stems from a common response you see from anti-nuclear folks, who frequently point to the issues at Hanford as a reason to be against civilian nuclear power. She's trying to make clear the difference between civilian nuclear power and waste management and historical waste from military nuclear weapons programs. Remembering also Hanford waste issues date as far back as the Manhattan Project during WW2.
Re: I changed my mind about nuclear waste
#9Thank you. I believe all environmentalists need to curb their fear and absorb a healthy dose of science. It would limit the outpouring of outrageous, fear-mongering statements to leave some room for serious adult discussions on how to tackle the energy problems we face as a species.
I think it’s condescending to claim that environmentalists are guided mainly by emotions and people who share your view are guided by science. The problems surrounding nuclear waste is not as clear cut as the article suggests.
Re: I changed my mind about nuclear waste
#10Can nuclear waste undergo fusion to turn it back into whatever it was before by using energy from renewables, thereby acting as a form of energy storage?