this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2024
28 points (93.8% liked)

Europe

1637 readers
135 users here now

News and information from Europe πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡Ί

(Current banner: La Mancha, Spain. Feel free to post submissions for banner images.)

Rules (2024-08-30)

  1. This is an English-language community. Comments should be in English. Posts can link to non-English news sources when providing a full-text translation in the post description. Automated translations are fine, as long as they don't overly distort the content.
  2. No links to misinformation or commercial advertising. When you post outdated/historic articles, add the year of publication to the post title. Infographics must include a source and a year of creation; if possible, also provide a link to the source.
  3. Be kind to each other, and argue in good faith. Don't post direct insults nor disrespectful and condescending comments. Don't troll nor incite hatred. Don't look for novel argumentation strategies at Wikipedia's List of fallacies.
  4. No bigotry, sexism, racism, antisemitism, dehumanization of minorities, or glorification of National Socialism.
  5. Be the signal, not the noise: Strive to post insightful comments. Add "/s" when you're being sarcastic (and don't use it to break rule no. 3).
  6. If you link to paywalled information, please provide also a link to a freely available archived version. Alternatively, try to find a different source.
  7. Light-hearted content, memes, and posts about your European everyday belong in [email protected]. (They're cool, you should subscribe there too!)
  8. Don't evade bans. If we notice ban evasion, that will result in a permanent ban for all the accounts we can associate with you.
  9. No posts linking to speculative reporting about ongoing events with unclear backgrounds. Please wait at least 12 hours. (E.g., do not post breathless reporting on an ongoing terror attack.)

(This list may get expanded when necessary.)

We will use some leeway to decide whether to remove a comment.

If need be, there are also bans: 3 days for lighter offenses, 14 days for bigger offenses, and permanent bans for people who don't show any willingness to participate productively. If we think the ban reason is obvious, we may not specifically write to you.

If you want to protest a removal or ban, feel free to write privately to the mods: @[email protected], @[email protected], or @[email protected].

founded 5 months ago
MODERATORS
 

Archived link

"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.

[...]

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] ByteMe 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 months ago (3 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

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

Yes, just to provide some detailed numbers regarding the UK from an article I posted recently in a similar community (article from May 2024):

A vast subsea nuclear graveyard planned to hold Britain’s burgeoning piles of radioactive waste is set to become the biggest, longest-lasting and most expensive infrastructure project ever undertaken in the UK. The project [UK's nuclear waste dump] is now predicted to take more than 150yrs to complete with lifetime costs of Β£66bn in today’s money...The waste itself includes 110,000 tonnes of uranium, 6,000 tonnes of spent nuclear fuels & about 120 tonnes of plutonium. -- Source

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

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

At this point in time, nuclear "recycling" is a grift. The French nuclear recycling industry in particular is basically just a France-Siberia import/export business.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Oh i didn't even know about that. Do you have a link handy?

Also upon looking it up a bit, even if we recycle some, it seems like a potentially very nasty process aaaand we still end up with a lot of waste.

I had been doubting my scepticism lately but nuclear simply isn't the silver bullet it's getting peddled as.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Sorry for the belated response. I am pretty sure I saw it in a Arte documentary some time ago. I don't think I have a link and I don't know if it's translated in a language you speak (though Arte usually have French/German audio and English subtitles).

I can only lead you to the Wikipedia articles for Orano (the company) and MOX (the recycling material), but they don't quite go into weird details that the documentary went into.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Arte Ultras 🧑

Ill chek their Mediathek thingy

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Found it. Unfortunately, it's a German-only reupload on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIq2KxeInxM , the relevant bit is at around 1h 11m.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Oh ok. I missed the (at)feddit(dot)org bit in your user name :)

[–] LowtierComputer 0 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] LowtierComputer 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

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)?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

Longer answer below, but i gotta point this out:

Not having a perfect solution doesn't mean you're not allowed to critically discuss the current ones.

Maybe a "good" solution for the specific areas you mention doesn't currently exist.

Now as to why:
I don't know the intricacies of the US power grid tbh. Where I am, the main reason why we can't rely fully on wind and solar yet is because politicians were ~~paid off~~ lobbied for by coal, decades ago, when we could've started to shift the whole grid and invest in tech to support solar, wind and water.

Literally cut 120000 jobs in solar alone but "saved important jobs" in coal.... 20000.

I'm kinda assuming this delay and ignore tactic also kneecapped the US grid's development?