[redneck]

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Here's a good reason not to build anymore.

Courtesy of the U.S. government...



U.S. GAO - Spent Nuclear
Fuel: Accumulating Quantities at Commercial Reactors Present Storage and Other Challenges

140,000+ tons of (reported) spent fuel laying around in the US alone, and continually making aprox 2,000 tons every year. The last major storage proposal, Yucca mountain, was squashed in 2009. Currently over 75% of the spent fuel is stored in cooling ponds waiting to be dealt with. The government is estimating that once a suitable location is located that it would take 15-40 years of work to develop it. Once an off-site facility is available, it will take several more decades to ship spent fuel to that facility. This situation will be challenging because by about 2040 most currently operating reactors will have ceased operations, and options for managing spent fuel, if needed to meet transportation, storage, or disposal requirements, may be limited.

And just like Fukushima...

Studies show that the key risk posed by spent nuclear fuel involves a release of radiation that could harm human health or the environment. The highest consequence event posing such a risk would be a self-sustaining fire in a drained or partially drained spent fuel pool, resulting in a severe widespread release of radiation. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which regulates the nation’s spent nuclear fuel, considers the probability of such an event to be low. According to studies GAO reviewed, the probability of such a fire is difficult to quantify because of the variables affecting whether a fire starts and spreads. [I]Studies show that this low-probability scenario could have high consequences, however, depending on the severity of the radiation release. These consequences include widespread contamination, a significant increase in the probability of fatal cancer in the affected population, and the possibility of early fatalities.[/I]

And then there's this.

Because a decision on a permanent means of disposing of spent fuel may not be made for years, NRC officials and others may need to make interim decisions, which could be informed by past studies on stored spent fuel. In response to GAO requests, however, NRC could not easily identify, locate, or access studies it had conducted or commissioned because it does not have an agencywide mechanism to ensure that it can identify and locate such classified studies. As a result, GAO had to take a number of steps to identify pertinent studies, including interviewing numerous officials.

So, nothing to worry about now is there...???

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