Making Nuclear Energy Greener

By Tim Echols

Today, everyone seems to be talking about carbon dioxide (CO₂) and how to reduce it. Carbon-free energy sources are sought-after. Generous subsidies for wind and solar especially, both federal and state, have contributed to their individual success in various parts of the world. But if the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining, green energy is not created. That is where carbon-free nuclear energy comes to the rescue. But in order to make it more “green and sustainable,” we must take action rather than letting the used fuel sit on a plant pad or be buried in the ground.

We put newspapers, milk cartons, aluminum cans, and all sorts of plastics on the curb in front of our house each week, yet the best we can do with used fuel is to bury it? We have in this country over 70,000 tons of used fuel stored at more than 100 sites in 39 states, and our 98 commercial reactors produce about 2,000 additional tons of used fuel each year. Because we don’t recycle this nuclear material, it would take nine Yucca Mountain repositories by the turn of the next century to house all of the used fuel being produced. Getting one Yucca has proved almost impossible, let alone nine.

Starting in 1990, the French did what the US backed away from–a commercial recycling plant for used nuclear fuel. They took the uranium-filled fuel rods, and figured out how to reuse 96 percent of the material, and how to do it safely. By separating the uranium and plutonium from the fission products, they took advantage of all the energy left in the material. More importantly, they turned the remaining four percent waste into an inert glass product that requires minimum security and safeguard protocols. If we did that here in the United States, it would significantly reduce potential waste going into a Yucca Mountain and extend the facility’s life.

So how is it that the United States would not want to do the same? Georgia Tech Professor of Nuclear Engineering Nolan E. Hertel, a renowned expert, notes that one result of the ban on nuclear recycling by President Carter, meant to prevent nuclear proliferation, is more than 2,400 tons of nuclear waste being stored on-site in Georgia.

In my opinion, the time has come for the nuclear energy industry to go greener and make the electricity it generates even more sustainable. We need to demonstrate the value of linking nuclear baseload and intermittent wind and solar. Here is how we can do it.

First, let’s recognize the energy value of the used nuclear fuel we currently discard. Did you know that our 70,000 tons of used fuel contains roughly enough energy to power every household in American for 12 years? “Valuing used fuel against the cost of permanent burial is a calculation best done by the companies that provide fuel management services,” says Jack Spencer of the Heritage Foundation. “Right now utilities have no incentive to do anything but store it.” This would require Congress to act.

Second, complete the federal construction project called MOX Project (Mixed Oxide) at the Savannah River Site, near Augusta. This plant, modeled after processes currently used in France at La Hague and Melox, will permanently change surplus nuclear warhead material into commercial nuclear reactor fuel. This reactor fuel could be used across the river at Georgia’s Vogtle reactors with slight modifications. The MOX Project facility is 70 percent complete, but haphazard funding from Washington is dragging out the project. We need Presidential support for this funding.

Third, recycling used nuclear fuel makes sense in the long run. This recycled material will be available at a discounted price compared to fresh uranium fuel the utilities currently buy. Ratepayers and shareholders will benefit from cheaper reactor fuel, especially in these times when low natural gas prices are causing nuclear plants to be at a financial disadvantage. The cost of nine Yucca Mountains will be astronomical, and recycling drastically reduces storage for the remaining 4 percent of used fuel.

Finally, let’s do the math. If we continue to close coal plants, which operate around the clock regardless of weather, and we continue to add intermittent energy sources like wind and solar and their natural gas backup generators, how are we going to reduce our net CO₂ emissions and provide the reliability that businesses and ratepayers expect? Nuclear energy is the answer, and recycling makes it greener and sustainable.

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