It's basically a huge long-term liability that just doesn't exist with solar/wind/storage, hydropower, or geothermal.
It's basically a huge long-term liability that just doesn't exist with solar/wind/storage, hydropower, or geothermal.
Water essentially can not become radioactive, and the sewage is used to cool water, not (directly) nuclear material. As you probably know all heat engines need a hot side (the uranium) and a cold side (the sewage) - the cold side is also those huge cooling towers you see while driving near a power plant.
This environmental remediation cost is generally missing in comparisons with all other energy sources.
'What What happens to all the old wind turbines?' (bbc.co.uk) [2020]
Wind turbine waste is almost nothing compared to that. Still worth fixing, but perspective is important.
1. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-10/coal-ash-has-become-o...
I'm sure these turbine blades will likely continue to be iteratively re-designed to be increasingly recyclable or at least re-purposable as times goes on.
I was just answering the question about remediation costs for wind turbines, as this feature of the current popular implementations is often a surprise.
https://www.lmwindpower.com/en/stories-and-press/stories/new...
Solar panels may be tiny but they generate dozens of tons of waste material per panel.
There is a good reason all the large mining companies and several of the large oil companies market/lobby their contribution to 'green energy' so zealously. https://www.fcx.com/sustainability/environment#climate
(I used to work in this vertical)
Just dumping fuel pellets into the deep ocean would be a pretty terrible idea though. All the fission products and impurities that build up as the fuel is burned lead to the pellets starting to crack apart. Any cesium or iodine would leach into the water quickly, it would not be a good day for Shamu.
https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2021-04-26/ddt-was...
Did I say thousands? Wow.
Don't ever trust anyone that says "We'll just safely dispose of that in the deep ocean.".