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Part 2 of 2 Parts (Please read Part 1 first)
To date, no nation that utilizes nuclear power anywhere in the world has brought a deep geological repository for nuclear waste into operation. A few such countries are actually currently working on developing such a facility. The Japanese Times reports that “France is still conducting underground surveys, while Switzerland, China, and Canada are analyzing boring samples. Belgium and Germany are at roughly the same stage as Japan.”
Unfortunately, the siting of a nuclear waste repository has been mired in controversy. Until nine years ago, nuclear power was a major part of the energy mix in Japan. Following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, Japan has turned against this form of power production. The citizens of Japan are becoming increasingly concerned about the nuclear sector’s various risk factors. This mistrust has reached a breaking point in Hokkaido where the Horonobe Underground Research Center is located. The Center “which conducts research and development on disposal methods for high-level radioactive waste” is working on choosing a location for a final geological nuclear waste repository in Japan.
There are other solutions to the problem of nuclear waste disposals that do not require vitrification and huge underground repositories. For instance, there is the possibility of using systems developed for fracking oil and natural gas to drill holes miles into the ground. Spent fuel assemblies could be shoved down the holes which would then be filled with gravel, rock, concrete, etc. In this scenario, holes could be drilled into the ground at the site of a nuclear power plant. This would not require processing or transport of the spent fuel.
Another possibility is to reprocess nuclear waste because there is a great deal of unburned uranium in spent nuclear fuel. Both uranium-235 and plutonium-239 can be extracted and used to create new fuel that can then be used in nuclear reactors. One major problem with this approach would be the fact that the plutonium and uranium extracted from spent nuclear fuel could be used to construct nuclear warheads and lead to the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
In the U.S., the cooling pools at nuclear power plants are rapidly filling up with spent fuel assemblies. The earliest that an underground repository can be constructed in the U.S. is 2050. Long before then, if the cooling pools cannot be emptied into at least temporary storage facilities, the nuclear power plants will have to be shut down and the U.S. will lose that source of power generation. Some countries are already shipping nuclear waste to other countries for disposal and some spent nuclear fuel is being illegally dumped into landfills or the ocean.
Nuclear waste is a global problem. It is not just a hazard for us, but also many generations to come. We cannot afford to casually dismiss it as a major concern for the future of humanity. Finding a safe place or a safe way to dispose of nuclear waste that was created by past generation and will be created by future generations is critical but it cannot be rushed or forced on those who do not want it but have not ability to refuse it.