Sweden's nuclear waste headache

[IChing]

By Lars Bevanger
BBC News, Forsmark nuclear power plant



As Sweden begins decommissioning its nuclear power plants, time is running out to find a way to make 9,000 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel safe for the next 100,000 years.
The nuclear industry says it has the answer, but environmentalists dismiss it as old and unsafe technology.

A 1980 referendum held in the country decided nuclear power should be phased out. The first reactor came offline in 1999, the second this week.
The remaining 10 reactors will all be shut down in the next few years, bringing to an end 40 years of nuclear history.>>>snip


Kai Ahlbom heads the geological research of the bedrock here, which he thinks would be suitable for permanent storage of the world's most toxic waste.
"This rock is 1,800 million years old. Not much has happened to this bedrock during that time," Mr Ahlbom explains. He is confident this geology will not change much for at least another 100,000 years.
That is how long spent nuclear fuel remains dangerous to the environment. It is the responsibility of the nuclear power plant operators here to make sure their waste remains safe until it is no longer radioactive.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4597589.stm

[hunter]

1. My prediction: Sweden will not shut down nuclear "in the next few years."

Nor will Germany.

And the "half-life" argument for nuclear waste is complete and utter bullshit. A lot of the toxic crap we spread about our planet has a "half life" of forever. One unique aspect of nuclear waste is that it gets less toxic over time. Most wastes don't.

Here, tell me if you can guess what this stuff is:

Chronic (long-term health effects)
Inhaling particulates containing this substance may cause serious, chronic lung disease. Over time lung disease can be fatal.

Carcinogenic References
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) lists this substance as a Group 1 – Known Human Carcinogen. The National Toxicology Program (NTP) lists this substance as reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen. The ACGIH lists this substance as an A1 – Confirmed Human Carcinogen. IARC lists this substance as a known human carcinogen (Group1) and notes that the work environment of workers involved in refining, machining and producing this substance was associated with an increased risk of lung cancer.

In the 'fifties we were exceptionally careless with this stuff, and a lot of people died. One poor man, an accountant who held a temporary position near a factory where this stuff was used, died after a few weeks exposure to miniscule amounts.

Plutonium maybe?

No, it's beryllium. The most stable form of beryllium has a half life of (get this!) forever.

It is interesting that beryllium is used in nuclear weapons as a neutron reflector, but it is also used in other more common industries. Tools made of beryllium are highly valued because they don't spark. This is is a very desirable property around sensitive electronics and explosive substances.

I've used beryllium tools at places I've worked. I once owned a few beryllium tools that belonged to my grandfather, but I got rid of them before my children were born. No, I did not send these tools to some super hazardous waste facility -- I simply gave them away to someone who appreciated them! (BTW, my grandfather was a rocket scientist.)

Back to the subject of nuclear waste. After a few thousand years, the radioactivity of used nuclear fuel rods approaches that of naturally occuring radioactive ores. Practically speaking on thousand year time scales it doesn't matter all that much what we do with nuclear waste. Any dry and secure hole in the ground is probably "good enough." Several hundred years from now our descendents will most likely be very wary of our toxic technological legacies, both nuclear and non-nuclear. Yes, it's a sorry fact that anyone down the road who digs through our garbage is risking their own life. We are never going to be done with that mitigation.

Nevertheless, assuming our descendents will not be digging cluelessly through our trash with sharpened sticks and stone tools for the next few thousand years, it is not an impossibly difficult task to safely store nuclear waste.

[hunter]

2. Late addition...

Here's a good link about the public health history of beryllium:

http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1994/102-6-7/focus.html

"...One of these deaths from CBD was a homemaker, whose only exposure to beryllium occurred from laundering her husband's work clothes..."

[jpak]

3. Beryllium was used in compressor blades at US uranium enrichment plants

http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/news2004/nn12051.htm

http://radlab.nl/radsafe/archives/0402/msg00108.html

http://web.em.doe.gov/bemr96/port.html

The beryllium wasn't supposed to be there.

Up to 20,000 workers may have exposed to beryllium at US uranium enrichment plants over the last 50 years.

Most of the surviving workers have not been tested for beryllium sensitivity...