One of the least known — amongst the general public — elements of the periodic table, californium, may hold the key to the safe and effective long-term storage of nuclear/radioactive waste, according to new work from Florida State University. The new work from chemists at that university has demonstrated that … [continued]
Researchers from the University of Sheffield’s Faculty of Engineering have developed a method which would significantly reduce the volume of nuclear waste, by up to 85-95%. Not only would it reduce the volume, but the end product would also effectively lock in the radioactive plutonium, creating a stable end product, … [continued]
Once again it appears that reality is interfering with the building of new nuclear power plants in the UK. As a result, it looks very unlikely that any new reactors will be built. Personally, this is a setback for me, as I am very much in favour of the building … [continued]
According to the United Kingdom’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) 2012 and 2013 budget, of which the information was obtained from its 2012-2015 business plan, “nuclear legacy” issues cost £2.5 billion, roughly 42% of the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s total budget. I was shocked, too. It … [continued]
The British Sellafield nuclear reprocessing facility in Cumbria is working to harvest americium-241 from the nuclear waste of the country’s nuclear reactors in the hopes of turning the material into a feasible means for powering long-range spacecraft built by the European Space Agency […]
Replacing uranium with thorium could see currently installed nuclear reactors recycling their nuclear waste indefinitely. Since the development of nuclear power, many different strategies for the minimisation and disposal of nuclear waste have been considered. There are two types of nuclear waste: fission product waste and actinide waste. Fission … [continued]
Scientists from the University of Edinburgh, working with colleagues from the US and Canada, have created a previously unseen uranium molecule that they believe could help in the cleanup of nuclear waste. The butterfly-shaped uranium compound is similar to radioactive molecules that scientists have assumed are key components of … [continued]
A team of researchers at Michigan State University has solved the mystery of how Geobacter bacteria found in soils manage to clean up nuclear waste and generate electricity at the same time. Going a step further, the team genetically engineered a Geobacter strain that does an even better job of it.
We are a civilization that ignores or glosses over its past mistakes, the horrors of its history and seems blissfully oblivious to all the terrible dangers that surround us in the present. With all the conflict and war, rapid population growth, dwindling supplies of resources, from water, to food, to energy, and the steadily warming temperature of the atmospheric stew we’re all simmering in, I’m amazed that anyone believes we will have descendents at all beyond a century or two.
You may want some facts on nuclear in order to prove that nuclear is either more “good” than “bad” or, vice versa, more “bad” than “good.” And yes, I will provide some in this article, but the point of the matter when it comes to nuclear energy is that we don’t yet have the needed facts to adequately weigh nuclear energy’s costs and benefits…. but if we did, it seems impossible they would put nuclear in the “good” category.
