We already built a facility to take care of our wastes, at Hanford, Washington. It turned into an environmental nightmare. Not only could we not guarantee its safety for ten thousand years, it was already leaching into ground water after ten years. The government could not manage the waste, and I doubt the industry can either. Again, it wasn't because of technical reasons, it was just because it was too much trouble to deal with.
The fundamentalist opposition to nuclear power is perfectly well justified. The boundless enthusiasm of its boosters is not. I am convinvced this problem can be solved but I am not convinced it can be solved by just turning it over to the industry. The government's record is not exactly a proud one either. This is going to require a long-term and expensive project with deep pockets and long term support, like the Interstate Highway system. This is not a fire and forget missile we're talking here. It's a road we can't afford to step off of once we've started walking.
Off Topic » in reply to re: Launch it all into the Sun
As far as I know, it's still not cleaned up.
The whole thread (34 posts)
- "$13 billion later, nuclear waste site at dead end."
- This method of dealing with nuclear waste is apparently obsolete.
- The problem is...
- It is frustrating. I see nothing technically wrong with this site.
- PS