Recent awareness of the massive amounts of electric power needed by AI supercomputers is driving a renewed interest in the nuclear option.
The Texas Legislature has incentivized nuclear projects and given the green light for 10 new full-sized nuclear power plants to be located near Amarillo.
This, of course, means our environmental lobby will soon be rehashing all those scary stories about high level nuclear waste.
Spent nuclear fuel rods are classified as high level nuclear waste because of the intense gamma radioactivity from cesium that builds up during reactor operation. This gamma radioactivity is intense because, unlike the very long-lived radioactive elements that have always been in our food, soil and body, the half life of radioactive cesium is only about 30 years.
Fortunately, before the end of World War II, clever scientists figured out how to protect us from this kind of radioactivity using various shielding materials.
Another element that builds up during reactor operation is fissionable plutonium. This plutonium is present in recoverable quantities and can be used to fabricate new fuel rods.
After 200 or 300 years, the radioactivity from cesium is pretty much gone and plutonium recovery is safe using established technologies. Yes, spent fuel rods fresh out of the reactor are highly radioactive, but they are not waste.
They are a gift of cheap energy we will leave for future generations to enjoy.
Robert Crocker
Chehalis
