Eli5: What is so bad about the waste of nuclear power plants? Why are many governments so against it? What is so hard about storing the waste in a safe place?
In: Technology
Several items we call waste. First off the fuel which is highly radioactive is placed in dry cask containers, welded shut and filled with helium as a heat transfer medium. Casks are placed outside to continue to decay and you can walk right up to them. This is done all over the world. In the US there was discussion to consolidate the containers but currently the casks are stored on site. This is not hard and has been done for twenty years here in the US.
Second by product is contaminated waste which includes old components, consumables for service work. These get packaged up and sent to a burial site where they are sorted. Some of the old components are stored on site as they are too large to move so utilities make a bunker and let the part cool off radiologically.
All of the waste is monitored and disposed of safely and correctly with very few exceptions.
The largest risk of nuclear is not really the waste. It is the potential for a large scale issue like Fukushima which could impact the area.
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