Word: reactors
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...then can any nuclear nation get rid of the rods? U.S. nuclear plants have temporarily been storing their freshly removed fuel rods in on-site "swimming pools." But 27 years after the first commercial reactor went on line in Shippingport, Pa., no permanent disposal system has been adopted. The pools at America's older reactors are getting crowded, and plant owners as well as the public are becoming worried. Concedes Carl Walske, president of the Atomic Industrial Forum: "The public's chief concern about nuclear energy revolves around the waste problem...
That problem is not insoluble, at least in theory. Scientists agree that the nuclear waste at U.S. reactor sites could be vitrified, or sealed in 11-in.-thick glass and permanently buried in underground caverns or salt formations. The volume of such wastes could be even further reduced if the U.S. began recycling fuel; 97% of some fissionable materials can be reclaimed...
Last summer it decontaminated the last of the nearly 1 million gal. of radioactive water that had spilled into the plant's reactor and other buildings. The water was passed through filters to remove radioactive material, which was then loaded into stainless-steel casks and trucked away for testing at an Energy Department facility near Richland, Wash. In August, the company plans to lift the cover off the Unit 2 reactor and remove the destroyed core and the remaining fuel rods. Once it has done that, it will be able to complete the process of decontaminating the reactor building...
...many advanced countries, nuclear power is a ticket to greater energy independence and national security. For developing countries, the sight of a mammoth reactor going up can also be a sign of industrial maturity and a source of national pride. To be sure, nuclear power faces the same obstacles abroad that it does in the U.S.: surging costs, construction snafus, protests from environmental groups, public jitters about safety, and problems with waste disposal. Moreover, the world economy is only beginning to recover from a recession that slashed demand for electricity and thus reduced the immediate need for atomic power...
Since his victory, Mitterrand has slowed down the atomic program, although he has approved plans to start two new nuclear plants this year. Mitterrand is pressing ahead despite predictions that France may not need all the electricity that the nuclear reactors could generate. To spur demand for atomic power, the state-run electric company is offering low prices to businesses that switch from oil and gas heat to electricity. Currently, petroleum accounts for 46.5% of France's total energy consumption, and nuclear reactors supply 23%. According to government projections, by the year 2000, nuclear power will provide...