The UK’s radioactive nuclear waste

Sellafield, in Cumbria, is the temporary home to the vast majority of the UK’s radioactive nuclear waste, as well as the world’s largest stockpile of plutonium. Sellafield is filling up – and experts say we have no choice but to find somewhere new to keep this material safe. One of its oldest waste storage silos is currently leaking radioactive liquid into the ground. That is a “recurrence of a historic leak” that Sellafield Ltd, the company that operates the site, says first started in the 1970s. Sellafield has also faced questions about its working culture and adherence to safety rules. The company is currently awaiting sentencing after it pleaded guilty, in June, to charges related to cyber-security failings. The current plan for a permanent solution is to bury the waste deep underground. A complicated search – both scientifically and politically – is currently on for somewhere to lock it away from humanity permanently. There are financial incentives for communities to take part in this discussion. So far, five have come forward. Two have already been ruled out. Allerdale in Cumbria was deemed unsuitable because there was not enough solid bedrock. Then, in September, councillors in South Holderness, in Yorkshire, withdrew after a series of local protests. Government scientists are assessing the remaining three communities that are currently in the running. Geologists have been carrying out seismic testing – looking for that all-important impermeable rock. One of the communities being considered is very close to the Sellafield site in West Cumbria, at Seascale. Also still on the shortlist are South Copeland, again on the Cumbrian coast, and a site on the east coast in Lincolnshire, where there have been a number of peaceful, but angry, protests. On Halloween 2021 in Theddlethorpe, one of the local villages, several residents used their gardens to put up garish anti-nuclear dump scarecrows, inspired by an idea from pressure group the Guardians of the East Coast, which is campaigning against the disposal facility. Ken Smith, from nearby Mablethorpe, is a member of both the campaign group and the local GDF partnership. He thinks the government’s approach to finding a nuclear waste disposal site “stinks”. Mr Smith is concerned that the voices of those most affected might not be heard and says it is unclear how local opinion will be measured at the end of the consultation. Prof Corkhill is convinced that a GDF is the safest solution. “We extract uranium from the rocks in the ground, we get energy from them and [this disposal facility essentially means] they’re returned back to the ground again,” she says.

BBC 9th Sept 2024

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czx6e2×0kdyo

Solving Nuclear Energy’s Biggest Problem. New methods like recycling in fast neutron reactors and geological disposal in facilities like Finland’s Onkalo are being explored. Reprocessing spent fuel in closed fuel cycles can significantly reduce waste volumes. Geological repositories like Onkalo offer hope for safe, long-term nuclear waste disposal.

Oil Price 8th Sept 2024

https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Solving-Nuclear-Energys-Biggest-Problem.html