Even Australia’s Liberal Party knows that the nuclear waste problem is unsolvable
“My experience with dealing with justlow level radioactive waste from our research reactor tells me it would be impossible to get any sort of consensus in this country around themanagement of the high level waste a nuclear reactor would produce.” Former Liberal Party Senator Nick Minchin (in charge of the failed attempt to impose a national nuclear waste dump in South Australia from 1998-2004.)
Nuclear power, Watt a waste – On Line Opinion , Jim Green and Natalie Wasley, – 6/12/2010, With some federal Labor MPs and Senators now openly promoting nuclear power, one important question is how Australia would manage the waste arising from a nuclear power program. How much radioactive waste would be generated by a nuclear power industry in Australia?……..The Switkowski Report stated that a repository would be required for the more voluminous low level wastes soon after the first reactors began operating. The smaller volumes of high level waste could be managed initially through interim storage, followed by deep geological disposal. All of that is easier said than done, of course: there isn’t a repository for high level nuclear waste anywhere in the world.
Repositories for lower level wastes exist but there have been numerous problems. In Asse, Germany, for example, all 126,000 barrels of waste already placed in a repository are being removed because of large-scale water infiltration over a period of two decades…………..
Former Liberal Party Senator Nick Minchin was one of a succession of Howard government ministers in charge of the failed attempt to impose a national nuclear waste dump in South Australia from 1998-2004. He said: “My experience with dealing with justlow level radioactive waste from our research reactor tells me it would be impossible to get any sort of consensus in this country around themanagement of the high level waste a nuclear reactor would produce.”
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