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How to Put Canada's Nuclear Waste to Bed

Posted October 18, 2012 1:59 PM

From CBCNews: Technology & Science:

Canada's nuclear industry has a problem. And, by extension, so do all Canadians.

Sitting in seven locations across Eastern and Central Canada are more than two million fire-log-sized used nuclear fuel-rod bundles. That's enough to fill six hockey rinks up to the top of the boards.

Even though the bundles are used, they are still radioactive - dangerously, fatally so. And they are going to be that way for the next few hundred thousand years.

If you want to put that in perspective, think about Homo sapiens.Humans have only existed in our present form for about the last 200,000 years. Most of that time was spent running around hunting other animals and gathering nuts and plants in an effort to keep from starving.

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Guru
Engineering Fields - Nuclear Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Louisville, OH
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Re: How to Put Canada's Nuclear Waste to Bed

10/19/2012 6:23 PM

The real solution is to use it, not hide it. A reactor design using fast neutrons can utilize this "waste" as fuel and complete the burn-up of U-235 which the present thermal neutron reactors cannot do. The waste from them is much less in volume, and also much less radioactive. Again: the present thermal reactor "waste" does not have to be buried, but can become fuel for use in a fast reactor which will more effectively use it while producing much less waste both in volume and radioactivity.

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