Radioactive Waste 295 - Disposition Of Spent Nuclear Fuel From Closed San Onofre Reactors Is Still Uncertain - Part 2 of 2 parts
Part 2 of 2 (Please read Part 1 first)
Part 2 of 2 (Please read Part 1 first)
There are some ongoing disputes over nuclear issues that I return to from time to time for an update. The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) near San Diego, CA. was shut down a few years ago over problems with the steam generator systems. Southern California Edison (SCE), the owners of the SONGS, contracted with Hitachi Heavy Industries for two new steam generators.
The idea of using thorium as a nuclear power reactor fuel has been around since the 1960s but there are no commercial thorium reactors in operation today.
I mostly write about fission power reactors because there are four hundred operational fission reactors in the world. I do talk about fusion reactors occasionally although there are no commercial nuclear fusion power reactors on Earth. Scientists have been chasing fusion power for decades but it always seemed to be forty years in the future.
Some nations test nuclear devices and try to deny it. Other nations may claim to have conducted a nuclear test but there is no proof. Nuclear warheads have been detonated in the open air, under water and underground. Science has developed different ways to detect the detonation of a nuclear device depending on the medium in which it was detonated.
I have blogged previously that some Chinese companies are clandestinely supplying critical technology to the North Koreans for their nuclear weapons program. The U.S. is working to identify those companies and impose sanctions on them to discourage their support of N.K. Now the U.S. has brought a lawsuit against a Chinese businessman who has major ties to North Korean trade.