Nuclear Power Status in USA - 2023 Colin Hunt November 17, 2023
Email from: Bryan Leyland, New Zealand to John Shanahan, USA I have been in touch with Colin for many years and he is my most reliable source on matters nuclear. An enormous change in mindset is needed for nuclear to realise its potential. A few months ago, two Dams failed in Libya and maybe drowned 20,000 people. It has been almost completely ignored by the dam industry. At the most, nuclear power has killed less than 100 and that was the failure of the nuclear equivalent of a model T Ford. Kind regards, Bryan Leyland bryanleyland@mac.com www.bryanleyland.co.nz
Reply from Colin Hunt, Canada to Bryan Leyland, New Zealand
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Yes, it’s difficult and complicated. This has little to do with the actual nature of radioactive materials and everything to do with the complicated way the United States does everything. Used nuclear fuel is not a problem. Since the early 1980s, there has been a very effective method of dealing with used nuclear fuel (and by extension all nuclear materials regardless of their activity level – Dry Storage. Since first implemented, no member of the public has been injured by radioactive materials stored in such a way. No radioactive materials have escaped from any dry storage container into the environment. After nearly half a century, in all that time, dry storage has a 100% safety and effectiveness record. Have you ever heard of anything in the real world having 100% safety success? Well, dry storage for nuclear fuel is one. So all the rest is just nonsense having nothing to do with the actual hazard of nuclear power. I will not speculate on the reasons for this complexity. They are tangled and involved with bureaucracies and institutions and matters of law and how that law is interpreted. Here in Ontario we have 20 nuclear power reactors; 18 of them operating and at nominal capacity. Ontario has used perhaps 80,000 tonnes of nuclear fuel (150 tonnes per reactor per year). Not one person has ever been injured by any of it ever. This is true for all used nuclear fuel everywhere, not just in Canada. Nothing needs to be done with it. It can remain in dry storage forever. At some point, it will be economic to take it out of dry storage and turn it into new nuclear 2
fuel. A line from Shakespeare may apply here. The fuss about “nuclear waste” is as Macbeth put it, “A tale told by an idiot, all sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Colin Hunt Co-Chair, Government and Regulatory Affairs, Canadian Nuclear Society (CNS) Sent from Mail for Windows
From: Bryan Leyland Sent: November 17, 2023 To: Colin Hunt Subject: Nuclear report
After reading the summary, I get the impression that it is very negative. Is everything really so difficult?
https://thoriumenergyalliance.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/04/2023-NASMerits-and-Viability-of-Different-NuclearFuel-Cycles-and-TEchnologies.pdf
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