Finland has become the first country with a final storage facility for nuclear waste. Germany is still searching for a site, while some countries have yet to start. Costs are expected to total many billions of euros.
To give a rough idea of how pathetic this nuclear idiosyncrasy is, here’s are the numbers.
If article is correct, we’re not talking about 300000 m³ of radioactive waste planned to be produced by 2050 by all industries (which are somehow already licensed to be stored).
We’re talking about 27000 m³ (17000 tonnes in weight and 11 olympic swimming pools in comparison) of just heavy metal waste from nuclear fuel produced during 62 years (sixty fucking two fucking years!) of nuclear exploitation in Germany [source].
For comparison, every (fucking!) year Germany landfills (just landfills! it’s 2% of generation!) at least 60000 tonnes of municipal waste, and… wait for it… 59140000 tonnes of waste in total (industrial, consrruction, municipal etc) [source, year 2024].
And yes, also those 300000 m³ (not per year, in total until 2050) less radioactive (but still radioactive) waste that has already been budgeted, from the first source.
It’s mindboggling how humanity managed to find a source of such abundant, cheap, scalable and relatively clean energy… and then certain political entities demonized it and fucked it all up.
It’s mindboggling how humanity managed to find a source of such abundant, cheap, scalable and relatively clean energy… and then certain political entities demonized it and fucked it all up.
In my lifetime I’ve seen 2 reactors blow up and at least one being fought over during a war. That does not sound safe at all
It’s mindboggling how humanity managed to find a source of such abundant, cheap, scalable and relatively clean energy… and then certain political entities demonized it and fucked it all up.
Sounds like you talk about solar and wind energy in this paragraph, 'cause nuclear ain’t cheap. Never was competitive, having nuclear energy was always about “we could build the bomb if we wanted to”, that’s why society paid for it.
To give a rough idea of how pathetic this nuclear idiosyncrasy is, here’s are the numbers.
If article is correct, we’re not talking about 300000 m³ of radioactive waste planned to be produced by 2050 by all industries (which are somehow already licensed to be stored).
We’re talking about 27000 m³ (17000 tonnes in weight and 11 olympic swimming pools in comparison) of just heavy metal waste from nuclear fuel produced during 62 years (sixty fucking two fucking years!) of nuclear exploitation in Germany [source].
For comparison, every (fucking!) year Germany landfills (just landfills! it’s 2% of generation!) at least 60000 tonnes of municipal waste, and… wait for it… 59140000 tonnes of waste in total (industrial, consrruction, municipal etc) [source, year 2024].
And yes, also those 300000 m³ (not per year, in total until 2050) less radioactive (but still radioactive) waste that has already been budgeted, from the first source.
It’s mindboggling how humanity managed to find a source of such abundant, cheap, scalable and relatively clean energy… and then certain political entities demonized it and fucked it all up.
It’s because this particular waste is both extremely poisonous and extremely long-lasting.
Not here to defend anything but natural thallium isotopes are just toxic without any half-life.
And in what concentration do they exist in nature?
In my lifetime I’ve seen 2 reactors blow up and at least one being fought over during a war. That does not sound safe at all
Sounds like you talk about solar and wind energy in this paragraph, 'cause nuclear ain’t cheap. Never was competitive, having nuclear energy was always about “we could build the bomb if we wanted to”, that’s why society paid for it.