Also I read somewhere that the waste products can now be re used, is that true?
In: Planetary Science
Something to consider in this question is that there exist “breeder reactors”. Normal nuclear reactors use a rare isotope of uranium to produce the fission reaction in nuclear power plants. Most (99%) of natural uranium is U-238 which is not ~~radioactive~~ fissile, and the U-235 which is ~~radioactive~~ fissile is only 0.72% of natural uranium. The rare U-235 needs to be refined to around 3 to 5 percent for use in a nuclear reactor, or up to 90% for use in a nuclear weapon.
A “breeder reactor” though can take regular U-238 and by exposing it to the neutron flux of a fission reaction create more fissile material than they use. In other words they convert the 99% of useless uranium into useful fuel uranium!
By using breeder reactors it is estimated that humanity’s energy needs could be fulfilled for approximately 4 billion years, or until the sun destroys Earth entirely. Even if we assume that the energy requirements are vastly underestimated it is probably *plenty* to last until a better solution can be found.
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