Operated from 1972 to 1996 and produced 119 billion kilowatt hours of energy

Dry cask storage is a method for safely storing spent nuclear fuel after it has cooled for several years in water pools. Once the fuel rods are no longer producing extreme heat, they are sealed inside massive steel and concrete casks that provide both radiation shielding and passive cooling through natural air circulation—no water is needed. Each cask can weigh over 100 tons and is engineered to resist earthquakes, floods, fire, and even missile strikes. This makes it a robust interim solution until permanent deep geological repositories are available. The casks are expected to last 50–100 years, though the fuel inside remains radioactive for thousands. Dry cask storage reduces reliance on crowded spent fuel pools, provides a secure above-ground option, and buys time for nations to develop long-term disposal strategies. In essence, it’s a durable, self-contained “vault” for nuclear waste

  • raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Radioactive material decays into non radioactive elements over the course of its half life. This is not kicking the can down the road.

    That’s not what half life is.

    The nuclear energy industry is the safest industry anyone has ever worked in, and it is intentionally so.

    Oh, this is not some idiot but rather some LLM propaganda bot. That explains the braindead comment on half-life times…

    • Derpenheim@lemmy.zip
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      1 month ago

      Stick with the personal insults if you dont understand something.

      You dont understand half lives, which is okay. As radioactive elements decay, they follow very predictable decay chains, typically ending at lead. This can happen many ways, from alpha decay (emitting the equivalent of a helium atom from the nucleus) to positron emissions. Uranium specifically will undergo an “alpha decay chain” bringing it all the way from Uranium with an atomic number of 92 to lead with an atomic number of 82.

      This looks like a very rapid decay of Uranium->Thorium->Radium->Radon->Polonium->Lead.

      The great part of Lemmy is that there are very few bots, at least in my (anecdotal) experience. And again, Im.not going to call you names, but I must insist you educate yourself on the state of the nuclear energy industry and the amount of safety procedures that it employs.

      Or at least, like…present a rebuttal? You just said “nuh uh, youre a bot”. Pretty lame.

      • raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Or at least, like…present a rebuttal? You just said “nuh uh, youre a bot”. Pretty lame.

        Your sentence:

        Radioactive material decays into non radioactive elements over the course of its half life.

        Reality:

        Half of a [r]adioactive material decays into other elements (which may or may not be radioactive) over the course of its half life.

        And in 10 half life times, you still have 1/1024 of the original material / radiation. Try being smarter and less of a smartass.

        • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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          1 month ago

          That’s just pedantic. They aren’t wrong. You just used slightly different language

          Also, you’re being an asshole.

          Editing this post for people who may find it but not read further. This user makes claims about waste getting into water, and other claims. When asked for any evidence they cannot provide any. I would recommend extreme skepticism of anything they say.

          • raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            That’s not “slightly different language”, that’s the difference between a few decades and thousands of years until radioactive hazards subside. And it was a bad faith argument. Anti-intellectualism isn’t acceptable when it is lethal.

            • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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              1 month ago

              It depends on your definition of hazard. It’ll be radioactive almost until the end of time. It’ll be half as radioactive after the half life. It’s already pretty damn safe as is, where being near it for a moderate amount of time isn’t an issue.

              • raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world
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                1 month ago

                It’s already pretty damn safe as is, where being near it for a moderate amount of time isn’t an issue.

                You really don’t know what you are talking about, do you?

                  • raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world
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                    1 month ago

                    The point is not the containers freshly produced. It’s the containers in decades or even hundreds of years from now. Or when they are exposed to conditions they can’t withstand.

        • Derpenheim@lemmy.zip
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          1 month ago

          You’re just here to deny and reject. Ive tried to educate, and you have rejected it. Best of luck friend.