My Nuclear Meltdown

After what has been happening with Japan and the nuclear crisis they are dealing with I started studying and found some interesting and in some cases disturbing facts.

Comanche Peak while applying for approval to build two more reactors has been storing all of its nuclear waste on site. What does this mean? It means if there is an accident or meltdown within one of the existing two reactors we would not only be subjected to that radiation but also all of the radioactive waste that has been being stored there for years. Scary, huh? Now, if they are to receive permission to build the two they have applied for then we are talking about 2 times the amount of waste being stored on site.

The US has 104 reactors in 31 states operated by 30 different power companies. A typical reactor produces 25-30 TONS of radioactive waste PER year! Are all of these plants storing their waste at the plant site? Yes, but never fear (unless you live here) the DOE, Dept of Energy submitted an application to the NRC, Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

"Low level" waste includes equipment, clothing, wiping rags, mops, etc. These items require between 10-50 years for the radiation to decay and then it is considered disposable with normal refuse.

"High level" waste which is your run of the mill uranium, plutonium is stored on site in specially designed pools similar to swimming pools. Decay time: 100-100,000 years. Yep, that was 100,000 years. Human civilization is debated as to have begun 5,000-10,000 years ago.

So, let's think this out... we have to build a containment facility or container to place underground that won't leak, won't be accidentally dug up, stolen, or damaged by natural forces (earthquakes) that will last for at LEAST 100,000 years? Can you imagine? Civilization as we know it, will be over yet "our trash" will still be deadly to all living beings.

Nuclear energy was being produced in the early 1960's and there is a technique called transmutation that processes the radioactive material and it makes it re-usable. However, The process was banned by President Carter in 1977 for fear of plutonium proliferation. When President Reagan lifted the ban in the '80's too many researchers/developers felt it was too risky, too expensive, etc. Yet, it is being explored again. Renewable radioactive waste. Hmmph?

Nuclear Energy was supposed to reduce our depency on foreign oil, bring down the cost of energy and be a more clean source of energy. I don't know about you but I paid $3.48 for a gallon of gas last week and my electric bill seems to get higher and higher. It is cleaner energy if everything is perfect. The oil spill in the gulf will have caused decades worth of damage to the ocean, environment and all the creatures that depend on it when all is said and done. Decades. If an unexpected valve doesn't shut off in a reactor...decades become centuries.

Creating and producing nuclear energy without having the fore thought to account for the deadly waste that would need to be accounted for is inexcusable. I actually read a paper that said the industry chose to store the waste onsite believing that somewhere in the future a solution would be invented. Really? ..... centuries .....

So my rant has come to an end.
Anything to add? For or Against?

Hoot!