this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2024
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"Not in my backyard" is a term normally used in conversations about proposed new housing or rail lines, but a version of it could soon be heard about one of the most dangerous materials on the planet.

[...]

Sellafield, in Cumbria, is the "temporary home to the vast majority of the UK's radioactive nuclear waste", said the BBC, "as well as the world's largest stockpile of plutonium". It's stuck there because no long-term, high-level waste facilities have been created to deal with it.

The "highly radioactive material" releases energy that can infiltrate and damage the cells in our bodies, Claire Corkhill, professor of radioactive waste management at the University of Bristol, said, and "it remains hazardous for 100,000 years".

The permanent plan to handle the waste currently at Sellafield is to first build a designated 650ft-deep pit to store it. Although the contentious matter of its location has yet to be agreed, the facility will hold some of the 5 million tonnes of waste generated by nuclear power stations over the past seven decades. Then, in the second half of the century, a much deeper geological disposal site will be dug, which will hold the UK's "most dangerous waste", such as plutonium.

[...]

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[โ€“] shapesandstuff@feddit.org 17 points 2 days ago (6 children)

Thats the point. Nuclear makes energy in a safe and clean way, but you can't just exclude the waste problem from the discussion or dismiss it as "we'll figure it out" as its so often done in this conversation.

Sure we are reusing some of it nowadays, but we still have tons globally that need to go somewhere

[โ€“] LowtierComputer@lemmy.world 0 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (2 children)

It's really not that much. Considering how much coal ash radiation and waste is created by coal power, nuclear is still one of the best long-term alternatives.

[โ€“] shapesandstuff@feddit.org 0 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Being better than coal, relatively, does not make nuclear "good".

[โ€“] LowtierComputer@lemmy.world 1 points 11 hours ago

What large scale power source do you deem "good"?

What is the rubric?

In many parts of the US, solar, wind, and water can't and won't keep up and coal is currently used. What is your "good alternative" for the Midwest (for example)?

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