Nuclear Waste is an Issue!

Photo by:  David Carson dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Callaway Nuclear Plant #1 April 1, 2011

In the week since the NRC has issued a stay on the licensing of any new nuclear plants or the extension of existing licensing not too much has been made of it in the news, except for the print media where one can continue to find informative articles written here and there. I especially like this one from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Because the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is a part of the federal bureaucracy, it can make even groundbreaking news seem mundane. 

Take this understated sentence in its ruling Aug. 7 delaying the final issuance of any nuclear permits, for existing or new power plants: 

"Waste confidence undergirds certain agency licensing decisions, in particular new reactor licensing and reactor licensing renewal."

Translation: The country cannot continue to talk about building new nuclear plants without figuring out what it is going to do with the dangerous waste that literally is stacking up at sites all over the country, including at Ameren Missouri's Callaway County plant. [Full editorial comment here]

This editorial is spot on, please read it and then think about it, our very future lies in these waste piles and what we decide to do about it. The issue is bigger than just parading with "No Nuke" signs or listening to people like Governor Nixon tell how small nuclear reactors are the economic future of Missouri and the world.

The issue is - "What are we going to do with the nuclear waste being generated that needs to be stored, safely and permanently ?"