Time To Re-Think Nuclear

So our kids’ old babysitter stopped by for a visit while home on vacation and like most folks, we talked about her new job, her apartment, the thermal characteristics of nuclear fuel blends – you know, the same old, same old.

Ok, maybe that last topic isn’t so run-of-the-mill, but since she’s a recent Ph.D. researching nuclear fuels for the Department of Energy, it was only natural that we’d spend some time talking about nuclear energy. In the process, she confirmed some things I already knew and opened my eyes to a few I didn’t.

For example, I was aware the U.S. gets about twenty percent of its electricity from nuclear power, while in France it’s about seventy percent. That’s a huge difference, and one I’ll discuss in a moment. But I wasn’t aware the two countries have far different approaches to handling waste. Whereas we use the fuel once, then must dispose of a reactor core’s volume of spent fuel, France reprocesses its fuel, leaving waste about the size of a hockey puck.

Well, that sent me on a journey to learn more, which confirmed a second fact I already knew: I am no nuclear scientist. After wading through scientific papers on uranium isotopes, half-lives and alpha particles, I came to the conclusion that the answer is not quite so simple (imagine that – nuclear physics not simple).

Still, here’s what I learned. The U.S. has opposed fuel reprocessing because it leaves waste that could be used for nuclear weapons if it fell into the wrong hands, a reasonable concern. But new technologies (e.g. fast neutron fission) could greatly reduce the volume of waste and leave it of little value to terrorists.

So what would this mean for you and me? Consider that at France’s utilization rate we could eliminate all coal-fired plants, thus eliminating thirty-six percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Or we could eliminate half the coal and all natural gas-fired plants, leaving natural gas available for transportation and thereby reducing our need for imported oil.

Such a scenario is not that far-fetched. Not only does the U.S. have vast reserves of natural gas, the technology to use it in vehicles already exists. In fact, Honda’s natural gas vehicle recently won an award as the nation’s greenest car. Furthermore, we can tap into the infrastructure that brings NG to our homes and businesses. Imagine refueling in your own garage. We could help the environment while sticking it to OPEC and Big Oil.

No nuclear energy plants have been built in the U.S. since the scare raised by Three Mile Island and the simultaneous release of The China Syndrome (which included an eerily coincidental line that an accident could wipe out an area the size of Pennsylvania). But more people have died mining coal in the past year than have died in the entire history of the U.S. nuclear power industry. With an uncertain future for both oil supplies and our climate, it appears time we shake our fears.