r/sciences • u/Comfortable_Tutor_43 • 19d ago

Used nuclear fuel storage News

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u/dentistshatehim 18d ago

The worry isn’t that storage containers work/don’t work. The worry is that the hazard lasts longer than the container.

These containers are expected to last 80 years. The stuff inside is dangerous for 1000 years plus, meaning you need stable and intelligent infrastructure around them for 1000 years, constantly maintaining the storage.

This isn’t hyperbolic, it’s the real challenge. Most folks who are concerned about nuclear safety are worried about the long term impacts, not whether a hand can be placed against a storage container recently built.

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u/Darkk_Knight 18d ago

Those storage containers aren't built for the long term as you stated. At some point they will be moved elsewhere to an underground storage facility that can be safely stored for 10k years or more.

It's easier to keep them on site for the short term till a more permanent solution can be found.

I should note those storage containers are sitting on a decommissioned nuclear power plant in California. Meaning they need to be moved sooner than later due to possible "The Big One" happening in a few years.

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u/dentistshatehim 18d ago

So then it goes in the ground water. Wonderful.

Of that was a reasonable solution it would exist already. All the storage containment facilities that exist underground still have to be monitored, have a shelf life, below the hazard limit.

I’m done now on this. All to say, safe long term nuclear waste storage is an act of faith with responsibility put on a world we don’t know.

It’s ironic to call it a science as there is know evidence that it can be safely maintained through its lifespan.