Update: Nuclear Power - What About the Waste?
Nuclear power plants generate clean electricity – without CO2 emissions. They also create waste in the form of used nuclear fuel. What is nuclear waste? What are its hazards? How is it stored today? What are the long-term plans? How much waste do we make? What is the composition of nuclear waste? How does it compare to fossil fuel waste? Join us for a Zoom talk and bring your questions.
Dr. James Conca is an environmental waste expert, Forbes.com contributor on energy and environmental issues and a nuclear waste scientist for over 30 years.
4:25 Introduction to Fission using Uranium
14:03 Categories of nuclear waste
21:17 Political Decision-Making
24:30 The original science-based plan for nuclear waste
29:00 How politics changed the plan
35:28 The criteria for a good Geologic Repository
38:18 Why Yucca Mountain isn't an easy place for a Geologic Repository
41:56 USA already has a Geologic Repository (WIPP)
59:59 Dry cast storage
1:01:23 Deep Borehole Injection
1:02:57 The possible outcomes for U.S. nuclear waste
1:07:26 Questions and Answers
