Nuclear power going to waste?

Why is the UK government still discussing nuclear waste?

The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CORWM), set up in November 2003, has produced a shortlist of options for dealing with high and intermediate level waste, ruling out options such as blasting waste into space. The discussion now is whether deep underground storage should allow waste to be retrievable or not.

These endless discussions are an obstacle to further development of nuclear power in Britain. Back in December 2004, the House of Lords science committee attacked the government for these delays. 'The government seems to have been sitting on its hands for around seven years. We have really had no progress', said Lord Oxburgh, chair of the Lords committee.

The debate currently seems to be about balancing doomsday scenarios: if we don't bury the waste, al-Qaeda might steal it or blow it up. If we do bury the waste, it might leak and poison our grandchildren. Greens worry that dealing with the waste would only encourage us to produce more. Nuclear waste should not be a major problem. The bulk of it is not especially radioactive - and the most radioactive material can usually be reused.

But all the handwringing about nuclear power denies us access to the one technology currently available that could lead to the production of qualitatively greater supplies of energy than we have now - a necessary precondition for a more prosperous world.

Warning on nuclear waste disposal, BBC News, 4 April 2005

First published on spiked