Nuclear Waste: The Chernobyl And Fukushima Disasters

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Nuclear waste disposal, and the cleanup of nuclear waste has also negatively affected the planet. Nuclear waste is usually the end result of used material from nuclear power plants. After nuclear fuel is used, and then contaminated by a reactor, it looks just as it was before, a combination of arranged rods and ceramic pellets, except now it is only 90 percent usable, and can only be used by an advanced fast reactor, while at the same time now being extremely dangerous. The waste is dangerous because of how radioactive it is, and unfortunately, the waste usually remains radioactive for a few hundred thousand years after it is used, so finding a suitable storage place for the waste proves be hard (“Nuclear Waste”). The two main ways that nuclear …show more content…

Shipping the waste and transporting it is pretty much unheard of, because terrorists could pirate or get hold of the ships and rob the waste. Cleaning up after power plant accidents can be hazardous, as seen in the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters. In conclusion, nuclear waste is much more deadly, much more dangerous, much more toxic and risky than nuclear power plant owners and the government let on. In the USA, 47,023 tons of nuclear waste were located in the country in 2002, and that number isn’t declining. More than 94,046,000 pounds of nuclear waste was in the USA 14 years ago, all stored underground, just waiting to harm the earth in another terrible way (“Nuclear Waste”). Nuclear waste simply can't be dealt with without someone, or something on the receiving end. Some environmentalists believe that nuclear power is a better alternative solution to nonrenewable energy sources than renewable energy sources, because nuclear power does not release any gases into the atmosphere, and can provide for cities and a bigger number of consumers, but that is only scratching the surface. Nuclear waste can't be regarded as the “we’ll deal with it later” issue the way it is

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