Nuclear Power

Pennsylvania, USA ... NuclearPower Facility

Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat for doing useful work. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with France, the U.S., and Japan combined accounting for about half of that percentage. In 2007 there were 439 nuclear power reactors in operation in the world, operating in a total of 31 countries. In addition, there were more than 150 naval vessels using nuclear propulsion.

There is a constant debate about the use of nuclear energy.  Proponents contend that nuclear power is a reliable energy source that has no carbon emissions. Opponents on the other hand, believe that nuclear power poses many threats to man-kind as well as the environment.

There have been 3 major Nuclear power plant accidents which include the Three Mile Island accident in the United States (1979), the Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine (1986), and more recently, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, following an earthquake as well as a devastating tsunami in March of 2011.  And yes, there have also been some nuclear-powered submarine mishaps.

On the 26^th  of April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukraine, which was officially under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow, sent a plume of highly radioactive smoke fallout into the atmosphere which drifted over an extensive geographical area, including parts of the western Soviet Union and Europe. The ongoing battle to contain the contamination and avert a greater catastrophe has thus far involved over 500,000 workers and to date has cost an estimated 18 billion rubles, which has had a crippling effect on the Soviet economy.

As if that were not bad enough, a Russian publication, “Chernobyl”, concluded a few years back that 985,000 premature cancer deaths have occurred worldwide (between 1986 and 2004) as a result of radioactive contamination from Chernobyl alone.

The accident raised world wide concerns about the safety of the nuclear power industry in general, slowing its expansion for a number of years and forced the Soviet government to become less secretive about its own nuclear power procedures. The apparent government cover-up of the disaster was an un-doubted “catalyst” for glasnost, which paved the way, so to speak, for reforms which lead to the Soviet collapse.

As for the disastrous events which occurred in Japan only a few months past prompted a “rethink”, you might say of nuclear energy policy in several countries. For example, Germany has decided to close all its reactors by 2022, and Italy has banned nuclear power all together. As for Japan, on the 20^th of March, the Chief Cabinet Secretary announced that the Fukushima plant would be decommissioned once the crisis was over.

The democratic nation of France is often considered a role model for combating climate change because 80 percent of its electricity comes from nuclear power. But the biggest problems with nuclear power beyond such accidents as those referenced above, is that it produces nuclear waste; this problem continues for most to be a serious handicap.

Perhaps the French government has solved this nuclear waste problem.  The town of Bure (population 86) is in eastern France, but it's not found on many maps. In this tiny community, you will find cheese-makers and beautiful rolling farms. Plus there is a mine shaft that descends one-third of a mile below the surface into a thick deposit of ancient clay that dates back to dinosaur days. In this clay formation the French placing “place into storage”, not “burying” their nuclear waste.

You see, water moves through the clay very slowly; actually only a few feet or so every million years, it appears that the French experts in this field are betting that radiation works about the same way. Then too, they say they are not disposing of the radioactive material indefinitely but only storing it until science and technology is able to figure a better way to handle the toxic stuff.

Eric Sutre is a geologist at this mine who says that clay is “a good place to put nuclear waste because it seals things off”, so I guess that settles that.  You may ask why in ‘Bure’? What happened to the old adage “not in my back yard” in a democratic society like France?

My first guess is money! Yes, lots and lots of money. The money is coming from the government. A 2007 report indicates that the community received nine million Euros (about $12 Million) within the first 10 years of the program. Apparently, some of it has even spent on schools and roads.

Within the coming 10 years (following 2007) an additional 20 million Euros are expected.  A local member of parliament reportedly explained it this way: “Keep in mind that the villages in this community are so small they don't even know how to spend so much money”.

Is their opposition to this nuclear waste storage program you ask? Locally, or elsewhere?  The answer is yes, but they do not get any of the money.  In fact there is an anti-nuclear movement in Bure. The “House of Resistance” is just down the road a bit from the dump site’s Visitors Center.

In defense of the French people who promote nuclear power plants, the government has really done a great job in selling the concept overall.  In general, the French people are not as fearful of nuclear accidents or nuclear waste materials as other people in the world. Then too back in 1970’s at about the time of the Arab oil embargo the government determined that nuclear was the way of the future which is apparently now.

So the big question is has France solved the un-solvable? Found a place to put nuclear waste for a million years if necessary? I guess it depends upon who you ask.

Sources ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power                                 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12837958             http://population.mongabay.com/population/france/3029541/bure        http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/reaction/readings/french.html