For the most part, people agree that nuclear energy production is more earth-friendly than burning coal. The handling of nuclear waste products is a hassle for everyone involved. There had been a plan to bury the wastes under a mountain. Huge sums of money were invested in developing a suitable site, engineering the systems and writing unique environmental regulations that would have to be in place for one million years. Of note, as hard as it may be to believe, that is not a typo and it is not an exaggeration.

In the end, however, a few politicians and special interest groups successfully derailed the project known as the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Depository. According to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, there are presently 104 commercial reactors located throughout the United States. Uranium is the most common fuel that is used at these facilities. Manufacturing nuclear rods is a long, expensive process. Nonetheless, the military still uses some of the processed materials for their atomic bombs. Of course, all of these facilities, as well as some of the bombs, produce wastes at the end of their lifecycles. Unfortunately no acceptable methods have been developed for long-term disposal of such wastes.

Undoubtedly, the nation needs to produce more energy to meet future requirements. It does not need to make more waste with no disposal plans though. Despite the fact that President Obama has ordered the decommissioning of some of the country’s bomb inventory, the military does not want to allow nuclear facilities to be shut down. Politicians constantly fight against placing wastes in their own states, yet they too do not want to shut down the nuclear energy plants that are powered by uranium.

There is a solution
The uranium isotope that is used remains deadly for more than one million years. Wastes from these reactors will have to be monitored for that period of time, unless science can find a way to decommission the fissile material. It is important to note that uranium does not have to be the only fuel that is used in nuclear reactors.

Enter thorium. This material has been known for many years as a material that can be used to drive nuclear power producing plants. It is highly abundant, with heavy concentrations in Australia, India and the United States, and is three times as abundant as uranium. Not only is it easier and safer to process, but the waste materials only remain deadly for hundreds of years, rather than millions.

What is holding up the conversion?
In the 1950s and 60s, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory worked to develop reactors that used thorium. However, much of the work was abandoned after tests conducted by the military concluded that they were able to adapt uranium power for their navel fleets. Further work with thorium was heavily curtailed.

It was also noted by the researchers that thorium could not be used to manufacture nuclear weapons. Still, as the nation’s political and military climate was quite uncertain at the time, the United States needed to continue to build and develop nuclear weapons.

A change in the wind
Lately, China and Russia have announced that thorium nuclear power systems are currently being developed to meet their future energy needs. But, the two countries have encountered the same problems that the United States is facing – there is no place to put the wastes. In addition, while our nation had an issue with the Three Mile Island nuclear facility, the United States’ problems have paled in comparison to Russia’s Chernobyl and Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi disasters. Maybe we should consider handing over all of our centrifuges to the military and refitting our nuclear power reactors – and then tell our politicians to stay out of it. PE