Reactor waste remains hot as waste so why do we not pile it in a massive dump and cirulate water through it to raise steam or at least preheat water for heat generation?
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Thanks everyone for an informative and interesting discussion.
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In: 337
Recycling nuclear waste for power is a thing that’s happened for a long time. It’s absolutely possible and it works well.
It’s not done in the US for the simple reason that it’s cheaper to mine more uranium than it is to reprocess the spent fuel rods.
That said, there’s no reason why if either the economics or technology behind this changes the equation, that the spent fuel rods can’t be uncasked for reprocessing.
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