What is Nuclear Waste? Can we do something better than "Sequestration"/ Deep Geological Disposal? Fuel Cell Companies are copying this model for CO2

"The death toll from nuclear reactor accidents is relatively small compared to other energy sources"

"Nuclear energy accidents, although rare, have led to fatalities in operators, first responders, and civilians."?

1. Incident Waste Decision Support Tool (I-WASTE DST) Read more
2. Storage and Disposal of Radioactive Waste Read more
3. "Deep geological disposal is widely agreed to be the best solution for final disposal of the most radioactive waste produced." Read more
4. More coming up!

Why Can't We Recycle Nuclear Waste?

1. Processing of Used Nuclear Fuel Read more
2. Conversion of fertile U-238 to fissile plutonium. Read more
3. "Almost 96% of the spent fuel used in nuclear reactors for power generation or research purposes can be recycled" Read more
4. "All commercial reprocessing plants use the well-proven hydrometallurgical PUREX (plutonium uranium extraction) process, which separates uranium and plutonium very effectively. This involves dissolving the fuel elements in concentrated nitric acid." Read more
5. Successful experiments derisk Moltex’s innovative waste recycling process: Waste To Stable Salt (WATSS) process. Read more
6. Moltex demonstrates reactor’s unique capability to consume nuclear waste and close the fuel cycle Read more
7. "Three unique technologies: a Stable Salt Reactor – Waste Burner (SSR-W) that uses recycled nuclear waste as fuel; a Waste To Stable Salt (WATSS) process for recycling nuclear waste to produce SSR-W fuel; and Grid Reserve thermal energy storage tanks, enabling the SSR-W to act as a peaking plant." Read more
8. Exploring the Largest Nuclear Power Plants in the World Read more
9. Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (TEPCO) Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Japan is currently the world's largest nuclear power plant, with a net capacity of 7,965MW Read more
10. Top 10 Countries Energy Produced by Nuclear Power are: USA (32.5% share), France (15.6%), China (8.0%), Russia (7.4%), South Korea (6.2%), Canada (3.9%), Germany (3.2%), Ukraine (3.1%), UK (2.6%) and Sweden (2.4%) Read more

Like or not China is Second in Nuclear Power

"Expected to become the world's leading nuclear power producer before 2030. China has been adding nuclear capacity at a rapid pace, with two large reactors completed in 2022 and more under construction"

Is Nuclear Power and Hydrogen the Solution?

• Pink Hydrogen: Produced by Nuclear-Powered electrolysis of water?
• Purple Hydrogen: Produced by Nuclear-Powered electrolysis and thermolysis, also known as thermochemical electrolysis?
• Red Hydrogen: Produced by the high-temperature catalytic splitting of water using steam and heat from nuclear plants
• Nuclear Energy in the Hydrogen Economy. Read more
• NEA Report: Nuclear Energy in the Hydrogen Economy Read more
• Thermolysis: Thermochemical water splitting processes use high-temperature heat (500°C _ 2,000°C) to drive a series of chemical reactions that produce hydrogen. The chemicals used in the process are reused within each cycle, creating a closed loop that consumes only water and produces hydrogen and oxygen.
• Why nuclear power is safer than ever Read more

Nuclear Power around the world

• Nuclear energy now provides about 9% of the world's electricity from about 440 power reactors. Read more
• "Fourteen countries in 2023 produced at least one-quarter of their electricity from nuclear. France gets up to around 70% of its electricity from nuclear energy". Read more

Nuclear Power in Canada

• Canada is the second largest producer and exporter of uranium in the world, with 15% of global production in 2022.
• Nuclear power generation, which is a source of energy that does not emit greenhouse gases, accounted for approximately 14% of Canada's electricity in 2021.
• Canada has developed a unique nuclear reactor technology, CANDU; there are 18 CANDU reactors in Ontario, 1 in New Brunswick and 11 in operation outside of Canada.
• Under Canada's nuclear non-proliferation policy, Canadian uranium can be used only for peaceful purposes.
• In 2022, 80% of Canada's Uranium production was exported for use in nuclear power generation throughout the world. Read more

Nuclear Accidents

• List of Nuclear Power Accidents by country. Read more
• Chernobyl is considered the World's Worst Nuclear disaster to date. It occurred on April 26, 1986, when a sudden surge in power during a reactor systems test resulted in an Explosion and Fire that Destroyed Unit 4.
• Three Mile Island: The partial meltdown at Three Mile Island Unit 2 is considered the most serious nuclear accident in U.S. history
• Enrico Fermi Unit 1 Frenchtown Charter Township, Michigan, USA, October 5, 1966 Coolant Flow blockage in two fuel channels led to the partial meltdown of two fuel assemblies at Fermi Unit 1.
• SL-1 Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA, January 3, 1961 The withdrawal of a single control rod caused a catastrophic power surge and steam explosion at the SL-1 boiling water reactor that killed all the workers on duty at the time.
• Sodium Reactor Experiment Los Angeles, California, USA, July 1959 A partial meltdown occurred at the Sodium Reactor Experiment (SRE) due to cooling flow blockage that caused the reactor core to overheat.
• Major Nuclear Reactor Incidents Read more
• Nuclear Accidents by Country 2024 Read more

Next Article: CANDUs Canadian Nuclear Reactor Read more