Storage and Disposal of Nuclear Wastes

Abstract

The United States is currently the world leader in electricity generation from nuclear energy with its 104 reactors being the global high for a single country. [1] Nuclear energy has a minimal contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming while providing consistent energy, day and night, rain or shine, for the lifespan of the nuclear power plant. This consistency carries tremendous value that renewable energy systems like photovoltaic arrays and wind farms cannot match. An unanticipated consequence of the U.S.'s successful nuclear power program has been the accumulation of spent nuclear fuel that sits on site, in storage, all around the nation. [2] Table 1 shows the cumulative spent nuclear fuel discharges up until 2002, and discharge projections up until 2035. Even though controversy involving high level waste always surrounds nuclear energy programs, nuclear energy will be needed by many countries for the foreseeable future. [3]