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There are two aspects to the national cleanup: decommissioning the radioactive plants themselves, and finding a permanent home for the huge volumes of plutonium-containing “spent fuel” produced by the plants’ reactors during their working life. That home needs to be safe and secure: plutonium is an emitter of virulent radiation, and has a half-life of 24,000 years <https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/radwaste.html&sa=D&ust=1526929109133000&usg=AFQjCNHUWGbw_m8_H6ZAceSHvJmZeofepw> (a half-life is the time it takes for half of the radioactive material to decay.). Dismantling and safely removing the radioactive remains of a typical commercial reactor is hugely expensive. The eventual cost of doing this for all 99 nuclear reactors <https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=207&t=21> at the country’s 61 operating commercial power plants was put at $91 billion in a report <https://www.callan.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Callan-2017-NDT-Survey.pdf> last year by Callan, an investment consulting firm. But completing the task also requires a place to take the accumulated spent fuel and radioactive debris, and so far, the nation has abjectly failed to plan for this. Radioactive waste is strewn across the country. The United States’ failure to establish a burial site for its most dangerous and long-lasting nuclear waste could have tragic consequences. “Not in my backyard” means that the waste is left in everyone’s backyard. Unless put out of harm’s way, plutonium is virtually a permanent radioactive threat, and a potential attraction for would-be nuclear terrorists or malevolent governments of the future. The age of generating nuclear power may be drawing to a close. But cleaning up its legacy has barely begun. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/opinion/nuclear-power-radioactive-waste.html _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
