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Finland's plan to bury spent nuclear fuel for 100k years

bbc.com

31–40 of 473 posts

Re: Finland's plan to bury spent nuclear fuel for 100k years

#31
“ The digital emissions from this story are an estimated 1.2g to 3.6g CO2 per page view”

I’m a little surprised that the emissions are so high per page view. I’ve never looked at co2 emission calculations for web pages before, but this seems a little high.

Re: Finland's plan to bury spent nuclear fuel for 100k years

#32
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Burying things in the ground is not a solution. It's more an Ostrich policy.

Lots of scientists disagree strongly with your statement. "The conclusion that disposal is needed and that deep geologic disposal is the scientifically preferred approach has been reached by every expert panel that has looked at the issue and by every other country that is pursuing a nuclear waste management program." https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/blue-ribbon-commission-am... One thing that drives me craziest of…

The thing is, that to human knowledge it is currently the only viable way to handle the situation. But still it is not a solution.

A solution would be to make it non-hazardous. But there is no viable way to do it right now.

Re: Finland's plan to bury spent nuclear fuel for 100k years

#33
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Burying things in the ground is not a solution. It's more an Ostrich policy.

Lots of scientists disagree strongly with your statement. "The conclusion that disposal is needed and that deep geologic disposal is the scientifically preferred approach has been reached by every expert panel that has looked at the issue and by every other country that is pursuing a nuclear waste management program." https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/blue-ribbon-commission-am... One thing that drives me craziest of…

How about we reprocess it and use it as nuclear fuel. IIRC France is the only country that does this. We just don't like the kind of reactor needed.

Re: Finland's plan to bury spent nuclear fuel for 100k years

#34
post #29

If we're burying spent fuel, that's a tacit admission that nuclear will not be powering the world, because a once-through fuel cycle with thermal reactors (like the ones used in Finland) powering the world runs out of cheap uranium very quickly. In any case, the lack of a geological repository for commercial high level waste in the US is mostly because there's no stakeholder who really needs it. Storing spent fuel in…

> the world runs out of cheap uranium very quickly.

Citations ?

Re: Finland's plan to bury spent nuclear fuel for 100k years

#35
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Burying things in the ground is not a solution. It's more an Ostrich policy.

Burying things securely until a better solution can be found is a better than letting them sit onsite in storage pools...

But may not be better than shutting it all down.

Re: Finland's plan to bury spent nuclear fuel for 100k years

#36
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Burying things in the ground is not a solution. It's more an Ostrich policy.

Burying things securely until a better solution can be found is a better than letting them sit onsite in storage pools...

I agree to in way that this is currently the only viable way to handle the situation. But it is not a solution.

Re: Finland's plan to bury spent nuclear fuel for 100k years

#37
post #8

Personally I'm rooting for the future where a fleet of falcon 9's launch escape velocity stage 2's that head straight for the sun. Underground is nice until you get radioactive groundwater. The time cost of 100k years of maintaining safety seems more than the financial cost of maintaining a F9 fleet and disposing of second stages.

An Atlas V can get 400kg to the nearest star (well any star) by launching on a solar escape velocity -- see New Horizons. An expended F9 has a similar payload I think.

You'd have to construct a container that would survive a failure - so an explosion of the rocket (on the pad or during launch), or a failure in LEO where it would have reentry. That container would then need to be able to be recovered no matter where it landed on that failure -- so things like floating would be important, and some form of control over landing so it didn't crash onto someones house. Or in an inconvenient country. Obviously it has to stay in one piece.

Now sure, much of that shielding doesn't need to go beyond LEO, but it leaves very little room for the actual payload.

Re: Finland's plan to bury spent nuclear fuel for 100k years

#38
post #24
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Burying things in the ground is not a solution. It's more an Ostrich policy.

As Ostrich policy is ignoring the problem -- specifically not looking at the problem. Burying the Geiger counters would be an Ostrich policy

It is exactly that. We are putting it deep into the ground and ignoring the problem.

Re: Finland's plan to bury spent nuclear fuel for 100k years

#39
post #18

I'm excited that Onkalo will be coming onine soon, so we don't have to hear the myth that there's no solution for spent nuclear fuel anymore. The solution that enjoys a solid scientific consensus is the deep geologic repository. Another thing that is weird to me is that everyone says nuclear waste is hazardous for a uniquely long time, but it become less hazardous over time. Many non-radioactive materials, like arsen…

Burying things in the ground is not a solution. It's more an Ostrich policy.

Why not? What specific problems does it not solve?

Re: Finland's plan to bury spent nuclear fuel for 100k years

#40
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Burying things in the ground is not a solution. It's more an Ostrich policy.

Burying things securely until a better solution can be found is a better than letting them sit onsite in storage pools...

"Securely" being the key term here. Something that is buried securely today may not be buried securely tomorrow, or in 100 or a 1000 years, because the geology of the planet is not static. This can become even more of a problem if the knowledge should be lost what was buried where.
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