{"id":78671,"date":"2022-04-27T10:58:38","date_gmt":"2022-04-27T10:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadialogue.net\/?p=78671"},"modified":"2022-05-03T10:29:24","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T10:29:24","slug":"nuclear-renaissance-hinges-on-solving-the-waste-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/energy\/nuclear-renaissance-hinges-on-solving-the-waste-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"Nuclear renaissance hinges on solving the waste issue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There seems to be at least one thing everyone can agree on when it comes to nuclear power: dealing with the industry\u2019s dangerous radioactive waste is an urgent global matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is an enormous backlog of radioactive residues from nuclear reactors, known as high-level waste, in need of safe and permanent disposal. This presents a major challenge and inhibits social acceptance of the energy source at a time when the industry is presenting itself as essential to addressing the climate crisis, as well as energy security in a changing geopolitical landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though complex, nascent and resource-intensive, the development of deep geological storage sites for spent nuclear fuel and other wastes is currently seen by many as the future gold standard for disposal \u2013 and a boon to the industry in those countries that can boast progress in such approaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finland, for example, is using the construction of ONKALO<\/a>, a first-of-its-kind deep geological disposal site due to enter operation in 2025, as the basis for dramatically increasing the share of nuclear power in its energy mix. It claims these plans are responsible because it is sufficiently tackling one of the industry\u2019s biggest challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lack of progress on developing a geological repository impedes… nuclear energy as part of a zero-carbon future<\/blockquote>US Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, April 2021<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

By contrast, the stalemate on creating such disposal sites in the United States \u2013 for now the world\u2019s largest producer of nuclear energy \u2013 is hindering a further build-out of nuclear power, according to the nation\u2019s panel on nuclear waste issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe lack of progress on developing and operating a geological repository\u2026 impedes the associated potential benefits of having nuclear energy as part of a zero-carbon future for mitigation of climate change,\u201d the US Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board wrote<\/a> to Congress in April 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the promise of new technical solutions to the nuclear waste problem remains on the horizon, emerging issues, such as modern power plants producing even more radioactive waste, are further complicating storage and disposal prospects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A push to expand nuclear power<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Some consider nuclear power essential for decarbonising economies due to a few key factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, nuclear power plants\u2019 emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants are close to zero during the operating phase. Secondly, they provide baseload generation of electricity that operates when intermittent renewable energy sources like solar and wind are unable to. Finally, they support, rather than compete with, renewable energy sources, because the plants are uniquely adaptable to changing demand load.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Recommended<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/a>\n\n\n\n

The International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA), the global agency supporting and advocating nuclear power, recently emphasised the last point using 2020 data from nuclear plants, when electricity demand fluctuated more than usual due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFlexible nuclear power plant operation \u2013 or, in some cases, complete short-term shutdowns \u2013 supported grid operator needs and demonstrated nuclear power\u2019s ability to integrate into sustainable energy systems of the future,\u201d the agency said in a report<\/a> published in June 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IAEA predicts<\/a> that nuclear generating capacity could double to 792 gigawatts by 2050, compared to 393 gigawatts in 2020, though this high-end scenario would require significant actions in order to be realised. Disposal, however, is an issue for the here and now, and one that will only grow more urgent, whether capacity reaches low-end or high-end projections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geological disposal remains gold standard<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The international consensus is that high-level radioactive waste should be finally disposed of deep underground, in geological sites where it can remain sealed off from the surface and atmosphere well into the distant future, since spent nuclear fuel remains dangerously radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finland is the first country to have such a facility under construction which, as mentioned, is due to start storing waste in 2025, with trial runs beginning in 2023, according to Posiva<\/a>, the company tasked by the Finnish government with handling final nuclear waste disposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Situated near the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant on Finland\u2019s west coast, the ONKALO repository will be built to a depth of 400 to 430 metres into the bedrock. The project utilises a method of disposal developed in Sweden, called KBS-3V, which employs a multiple barrier system currently seen as the international standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The process of disposal<\/a> begins with individual tubes of waste being collected into a larger assembly. Groups of these assemblies are then placed into cast iron canisters with a 5cm-thick copper exterior \u2013 to protect the inner from corrosion \u2013 and lowered deep into the underground portion of the facility. There, the canisters are moved to a tunnelled area, where they are placed vertically into individually drilled cavities in the bedrock, and surrounded by bentonite clay; this type of clay expands when exposed to water, thus further sealing the canisters in place. Once the area beneath each tunnel has reached capacity, they are backfilled with bentonite clay and sealed with concrete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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