Nuclear Waste Storage

Nuclear power has the irritating combination of great power and terrible responsibility. We get reliable power without pollution or emissions. We pay for the power by storing the high level waste, for a long time. In our terms, the waste from a reactor is dangerous "forever".

Our standard for storing nuclear waste is 100,000 years. We have several ideas and designs for storage facilities. Some of them look quite promising. They would probably work. However, the people who live next to the sites or downstream of the sites or downwind of the sites don't feel comfortable with "probably".

Before we commit to a lasting monument to our nation, let's do some testing. let's build small scale examples of several storage sites. Let's store some samples of high level nuclear waste. Let's wait a little while. Then, when they most probably work, let's bring back fission power reactors.

PS: On this scale, a little while would be about 1,000 years. Enjoy