Sixty Thousand Tons of Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel Stored at U.S. Reactors for 60 Years? Natural Resources Defence Council, Matthew McKinzie February 23, 2011
Why NRDC has Challenged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Waste Confidence Rule (more…)
Within 60 years, the energy needed to get fuel for nuclear power will be the same as the energy it can make.
Nuclear Power Continues World Dependence on Middle East Oil | Green Prophet, 21 Feb 2011, Out of the frying pan…In its haste to free itself from oil-powered electricity, during the Arab oil shocks of the ”70s, France switched to nuclear energy. It had been vulnerable in its dependence on the Middle East, and moved to nuclear to free itself of the risk from more oil shocks. Since then, it has been the poster child nation for nuclear energy, getting almost 80% of its electricity from nuclear power. It must be in good shape to weather the bumpy exit from the oil age, right?Wrong. (more…)
UK Engineers Examine Damages in Nuclear Reactors Due to Radiation Exposure, Azo Nano Technology, 18 Feb 2011, Researchers from the University of Leeds have teamed up with colleagues from the Universities of Manchester, Nottingham, Salford, Sussex and Huddersfield to examine how daily radiation exposure gradually damages the graphite blocks that sustain nuclear chain reactions…….
Graphite is a key component of most working nuclear reactors in the UK and for the most exciting designs of new high temperature reactors. The graphite blocks act as a brake for high-speed neutrons, slowing them down to speeds that are most effective for nuclear fission.
Not surprisingly, the daily neutron bombardment takes its toll on these graphite ‘moderators’. The clusters of linked carbon atoms – or crystallites – that make up the graphite change their shape and the blocks become more porous……
200B Gallons of Water Drawn Each Day for U.S. Coal, Nuclear Power SustainableBusiness.com 31/1 2011, An astounding 200 billion gallons of water withdrawn from America’s water supply each day… and four metric tons of high-level radioactive wastes for every terawatt of electricity produced by nuclear reactors, even though there is no long-term storage solution in place (more…)
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