"Spent Fuel increases at a national scale by about 2,000 metric tons per year, and will likely be stored at nuclear power plants in the United States for the near future as there is no federal project for a national repository."
I still find it absolutely amazing that we are not more concerned about this issue of spent nuclear fuel, but on the same hand I find it amazing that there is a discussion going on that Americans actually have a constitutional right to own assault weapons. It is indeed a strange country we inhabit.
Zealots fight strongly for the rights of a unborn child and then can barely muster up the strength to feel bad when school children are blown apart at their locals schools. What? Bad taste to say that? Well then my friends what will get your attention?
There are people out there among you that know exactly what happens to human flesh when riddled by bullets from these killing guns. And there are people out there that know what happens when human beings are exposed to the deadly radiation from nuclear reactors when something goes terribly wrong. The 1986 accident at Chernobyl is a good example.
"An area extending 19 miles (31 km) in all directions from the plant is known as the "zone of alienation." It is largely uninhabited, except for a few residents who have refused to leave. The area has largely reverted to forest. Even today, radiation levels are so high that the workers responsible for rebuilding the sarcophagus are only allowed to work five hours a day for one month before taking 15 days of rest. Ukrainian officials estimate the area will not be safe for human life again for another 20,000 years.[50]
In 2011, Ukraine opened up the sealed zone around the Chernobyl reactor to tourists who wish to learn more about the tragedy that occurred in 1986.[149][150]" Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster
The results from Fukushima are still not all in, or at least no one is willing to talk about it in any great depth. So the pages of the calendar turn and the days move on into weeks, then months and finally to years. And still no answers, no conclusions, no action.
NRC To Review Spent Fuel Regulations:
"After more than 20 years of non-action, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission is reviewing its policies, regulations, guidance, and technical needs in several key areas, such as: retrievability, cladding integrity, and safe handling of spent fuel; criticality safety features and requirements for spent fuel transportation; and aging management and qualification of dual-purpose canisters and components after long-term storage.
In the United States, the regulations for the packaging and transport of spent nuclear fuel are separate from the requirements for the storage of spent nuclear fuel. This has lead to a loophole in regulations where no requirements are set for loaded storage casks to meet transportation requirements, which has contributed to uncertainty about the compatibility between storage and transportation regulations, and could potentially cause unanalyzed problems during the future handling of spent fuel.
Spent Fuel increases at a national scale by about 2,000 metric tons per year, and will likely be stored at nuclear power plants in the United States for the near future as there is no federal project for a national repository. Spent fuel pools contain more highly radioactive fuel than the reactor cores, and all of the spent fuel pools at U.S. nuclear plants are located outside the reactor containment structure.
The majority of U.S. nuclear reactors currently in operation will have ceased to be in action by 2040,and the options to dispose of spent fuel pool could be limited.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has estimated that many of the nuclear power plants in the United States will be out of room in their spent fuel pools by 2015, most likely requiring the use of temporary storage of some kind. Due to this shortage of pool space, plant operators have been forced to convert to more expensive dry cask storage. The transfer of spent fuel from wet to dry storage incurs inherent risks related to moving it, and accelerating the transfer of spent fuel could increase those risks.
According to 2010 statistics gathered by the Department of Energy, the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, operated by Southern California Edison, also is the storage site for more than 1,000 metric tons of spent fuel stored in pools, and another 360 tons in dry cask storage." Source: GPO
Footnotes to Wikipedia references: [50] ^ a b Time: Disasters that Shook the World. New York City: Time Home Entertainment. 2012. ISBN 1-60320-247-1. [149] ^ "News". Associated Press. Yahoo News. 13 December 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2012. [150] ^ "Tours of Chernobyl sealed zone officially begin". TravelSnitch. TravelSnitch. 18 March 2011.
Chernobyl will "not be safe for human life for 20,000 years." You'd think that would get people's attention. But as you know, this discussion isn't even on the radar. The lack of attention to this matter is, as you often say, completely insane. Keep at it, Annie. Someone's reading. Someone's influenced. Who knows? People may wake up at some point. Probably not in our lifetime, though. Whew. What does that say about our future?
ReplyDeleteGlad you picked up on the 20,000 years fact. Not a big deal right?
ReplyDeleteBTW I seriously love this song. I always have.
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