Nuclear fuel in the reactor cores melted after the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant's cooling systems to fail
When reading about dungeness reactor i learned that even reactors that haven’t melted down also take about a hundred years to decommission safely.
Another interesting stat I heard on a podcast is that the coal industry has proven much more deadly than the nuclear industry in terms of human lives lost.
The care and maintenance stage is part of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) decommissioning strategy and spans an 80+ year period. This waiting period allows for radiation levels within the reactor core to decline and helps to facilitate a smoother demolition process. Dungeness A is due to enter the care and maintenance phase in 2027. Demolition of reactor buildings and final site clearance is planned for 2088 to 2098
Sadly that’s what the human race does. It’s nothing unique to nuclear power.
It still baffles me, for example, that with all this technology, we still generate all this rubbish which we then bury in the ground. And we all know it. We all buy things in disposable packaging. We are all complicit.
Nuclear waste doesn’t really pose problems substantially different from other forms of waste. There’s lots of waste that isn’t good for you if you come into contact with it, and stuff that’ll remain in that state for a lot longer than anything radioactive enough to be a concern is.
That’s some really cool technology you got there, that can reprocess radioactive waste from decommissioning nuclear plants. You know, reactor vessels, bio shields, all the plumbing etc. Please point me to a source on how that technology works.
Like I said below, it’s basically recycling, which also doesn’t make the waste disappear. I’m with you on this one, but you also did ask how reprocessing works, so there’s that.
When reading about dungeness reactor i learned that even reactors that haven’t melted down also take about a hundred years to decommission safely.
Another interesting stat I heard on a podcast is that the coal industry has proven much more deadly than the nuclear industry in terms of human lives lost.
It doesn’t take a hundred years, but a couple of decades and it’s hugely expensive. And nobody knows what to do with the waste.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeness_nuclear_power_stations
It’s an amazing place. I visited last month. You can overlook the power station from a nearby lighthouse.
Fantastic. Just kick the can down the road and make it some future generations’ problem. Great technology!
Sadly that’s what the human race does. It’s nothing unique to nuclear power.
It still baffles me, for example, that with all this technology, we still generate all this rubbish which we then bury in the ground. And we all know it. We all buy things in disposable packaging. We are all complicit.
Do you really have trouble understanding the difference between nuclear waste and regular waste?
Nuclear waste doesn’t really pose problems substantially different from other forms of waste. There’s lots of waste that isn’t good for you if you come into contact with it, and stuff that’ll remain in that state for a lot longer than anything radioactive enough to be a concern is.
So, no. Gotcha.
I’m not the person you were talking to, but I agree that I don’t think that they have trouble distinguishing between nuclear and non-nuclear waste.
Everyone that does their research knows what to do with it. https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/fuel-recycling/processing-of-used-nuclear-fuel
But isn’t the amount you can recycle limited?
This place says 96% https://www.orano.group/en/unpacking-nuclear/all-about-used-fuel-processing-and-recycling
Ooooh. Is there a catch? Are the Fukushima spent fuel caskets all fully recycled?
Looks like the soil is going to https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2024/09/4895fe8d3ef8-japans-plan-to-reuse-decontaminated-soil-in-fukushima-safe-iaea.html?phrase=defense budget poll&words=
But what about their 307cu³ and counting of spent fuel?
That’s some really cool technology you got there, that can reprocess radioactive waste from decommissioning nuclear plants. You know, reactor vessels, bio shields, all the plumbing etc. Please point me to a source on how that technology works.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_reprocessing?wprov=sfti1
Did you even read what I wrote before?
Like I said below, it’s basically recycling, which also doesn’t make the waste disappear. I’m with you on this one, but you also did ask how reprocessing works, so there’s that.
My question was specifically how reprocessing the stuff other than fuel would work. And it was a rhetorical question because it obviously doesn’t.
You either just treat them like normal buildings, treat them like tourist buildings, or just sell them to Holtec.
Do you really think that out of the millions of demolished buildings, none had toilets‽
https://www.pnnl.gov/news-media/recycling-gives-new-purpose-spent-nuclear-fuel