Waste Storage and Radiation from Uranium are Main Concerns
Nuclear power is already part of 32 nations’ renewable energy portfolio. This is because nuclear power is free of carbon emissions, generates phenomenal levels of energy, and is reliable [see “A ‘Current’ Case for Nuclear Energy,” The Earth & I, December 2023 / January 2024], given that it is not weather-dependent like other kinds of renewable energy.
Promising developments in nuclear energy include making smaller “modular reactors” that can provide affordable energy to hard-to-reach areas and nuclear energy applications that can be used in space, the US Department of Energy says. Also, most uranium used in nuclear energy can be recycled in productive ways.
However, the challenges to nuclear energy remain, even if mostly in public perception. These include building costs, safety, and disposal of nuclear waste, plus fears of radiation leaks, contamination of water, and nuclear weapons proliferation.
Are the risks of nuclear energy worth the rewards of clean energy? The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident is a good example of why this question is difficult to answer.
Fukushima: A Real-Life Example
The nuclear plant on Japan’s Pacific Coast “was constructed in 1967 to supply electricity to nearby Tokyo as the population and economy boomed. It was first praised for creating jobs and bringing money into the prefecture,” The Diplomat says in a 2023 article. This all changed on March 11, 2011, when a massive earthquake caused a tsunami to slam into the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The seawater “disabled the power supply and cooling of three Fukushima Daiichi reactors,” causing the cores to “largely melt” in the first three days, says the World Nuclear Association.
The reactors were stabilized in two weeks, but the accident caused the release of radiation over three days. This caused a mass evacuation, years of careful cleanup efforts, and left behind a few “no go” zones. But 12 years after the accident, although China has voiced concerns about contaminated water from the area, the “decontamination of the towns outside the no-go zones has been largely completed,” The Diplomat article says.
Status of Nuclear Energy
The Fukushima Daiichi plant has been decommissioned, but Japan currently has 14 other nuclear power reactors in operation. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), there are currently 417 nuclear power plants in operation across 32 countries around the world. France and China both have 57.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), there are currently 417 nuclear power plants in operation across 32 countries around the world.
In the US, there are 94 nuclear power reactors in operation with a total net capacity of 96,952 MWe (megawatt-equivalent) as of 2023. Nuclear power accounted for 18.6% of US electricity generation (4.178 trillion kWh) in the same year, only second as a single source to natural gas with 43.1% of the total.
The IAEA says 62 nuclear power plants are under construction, which shows the durability of interest in this renewable energy technology. However, the dangers of improper nuclear waste disposal and the mining and handling of radioactive uranium keep debate alive about whether the risks are worth the rewards.
Uranium Mining Concerns
Nuclear energy depends on uranium, a mildly radioactive metal that is mined, refined, and enriched to make fuel.
Enriched uranium-235 has high energy density, which makes it a strong contender for energy production: 1 uranium pellet (the size of a pencil eraser) has as much energy as 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas, 120 gallons of oil, or 1 ton of coal.
Uranium has three isotopes (based on the number of neutrons in their nuclei). These are uranium-238 (U-238, with 146 neutrons), uranium-235 (U-235, with 143 neutrons), and uranium-234 (U-234, with 142 neutrons).
To produce energy, fuel is placed in nuclear reactors, in which atoms are split, producing heat. The heat is used to bring water to high temperatures and produce steam; the steam is used to move turbines that power an electric generator.
While U-235 is easily split (“fissile”), thereby producing a lot of energy, U-238 can be fissioned only with high-energy neutrons. These distinctions are important because in mined uranium, less than 1% or about 0.7%, is the highly desired U-235. About 99.3% is U-238, while a trace, less than 0.01%, is U-234.
Mining uranium comes with environmental and health concerns.
The Navajo Nation in the US operated uranium mines from 1944 to 1986 but now has over 500 abandoned uranium mines. Despite the cessation of operations, uranium was found in the dust of 85% of 600 homes and in the urine of 700 Navajo mothers and 200 babies decades later, according to a 2017 article. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it has “removed contamination from 60 residential yards and completed removals of 47 structures,” but more cleanup efforts are needed.
The EPA states that contact with uranium can cause kidney damage and increase the risk for high blood pressure, autoimmune diseases, and reproductive issues.
The EPA states that contact with uranium can cause kidney damage and increase the risk for high blood pressure, autoimmune diseases, and reproductive issues.
Meanwhile, radiation from uranium and other natural elements can cause lung cancer, bone cancer, and kidney function issues. In a 2000 study of lung cancer incidence in Navajo men from 1969 to 1993, 63 of the 94 cancer incidents occurred in former uranium miners, and “smoking did not account for the strong relationship between lung cancer and uranium mining,” according to the study’s authors. Smoking is done for ceremonial and cultural purposes by the Navajo outside of personal use, however.
While there is a large concentration of uranium sites in the Navajo Nation, other locations include eastern Washington, southwestern Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, and southern California. See Stanford University’s map of US uranium sites in 2020 for details. Concerns about uranium mining continue. Utah’s White Mesa Uranium Mill is the “only fully licensed and operating conventional uranium mill” in the US. But in October 2024, there was a protest by members of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe. “[The mill] is only five miles north of our reservation,” says Yolanda Badback, organizer of the White Mesa Concerned Community. “I want a clean … environment for our community.”
In response, Energy Fuel Resources, the operator of the mill, stated that “there is no evidence that points to the Mill causing any adverse health or environmental impacts. It is disheartening to see opposition to the Mill and our recycling programs that is based on myths, outdated beliefs and outright falsehoods, which activist organizations use to create unfounded fear in the community.”
Uranium Fission Products and Health Risks
IAEA indicates that spent nuclear fuel is about 96% uranium (with less than 1% of uranium-235), 1% plutonium, and 3% of high-level radioactive products.
The uranium and plutonium can be reprocessed and used as fuel, while the high-level radioactive products are converted into a type of glass (through vitrification) and disposed of at a high-level waste disposal facility.
Out of various fission products, several—iodine-131, strontium-89, and samarium-153—are used in nuclear medicine. Other high-level radioactive products include cesium-137 and strontium-90, which are managed by the US Department of Energy.
However, there are various environmental and health-related adverse impacts if exposed to elements like these.
Plutonium, for example, is dangerous if inhaled, as it can contribute to lung cancer and kidney damage, says the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In contrast, ingesting plutonium through food or water “does not pose a serious threat to humans,” as it “passes out of the body in the feces,” the CDC says.
Strontium-90 … is a human carcinogen and causes bone, bone marrow, and soft tissue cancers, the CDC says.
Strontium-90, meanwhile, is a human carcinogen and causes bone, bone marrow, and soft tissue cancers, the CDC says. Leukemia has also been seen in people exposed to “relatively large amounts” of radioactive strontium.
People can be exposed to radioactive strontium by breathing air, eating food, or drinking water contaminated with it.
Ironically, some products have medical use: Strontium-89 is used as strontium chloride sr 89, a radioactive agent injected for pain relief from bone cancer; it temporarily decreases white blood cell and platelet counts. This also applies to samarium-153, which is used in the form of the injection samarium sm 153 lexidronam.
Other elements, such as cesium-137, can cause burns, acute radiation sickness, and death when exposed to large amounts, as well as increasing risk for cancer if inhaled or ingested. On the plus side, cesium-137 is used in medical radiation therapy devices for treating cancer and some industrial devices for detecting liquid flow or thickness of materials.
Nuclear Waste Radiation
Nuclear waste itself can also take thousands of years to degrade. For this reason, if mishandled, it is highly injurious to the environment, adversely affecting agricultural land, fishing waters, freshwater sources, and human health.
Gamma radiation is the most dangerous form of radioactivity, as it has the ability to penetrate human tissue and damage DNA. It is able to travel throughout the human body, causing numerous cancers and interfering with cellular structure.
Gamma radiation is the most dangerous form of radioactivity, as it has the ability to penetrate human tissue and damage DNA. [It] is blocked, however, by a few inches of dense materials like lead or several feet of concrete.
Gamma radiation is blocked, however, by a few inches of dense materials like lead or several feet of concrete.
Beta radiation can similarly penetrate the skin, damaging DNA, and tissue. It, too, can be efficiently blocked by a thin sheet of metal, a block of wood, or a layer of aluminum.
Disposal of Nuclear Waste
The usual way to dispose of nuclear waste is to store it in or near inactive nuclear power plants.
Sellafield in the UK is an example of nuclear waste processing, decommissioning, and storage. Storage in this manner is highly expensive, with the cleaning up of Sellafield projected to cost UK taxpayers €136 billion ($142.5 billion). Sellafield is owned by the taxpayer-funded Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
European countries are also preparing to store nuclear waste underground. Sweden is preparing an €8.4 billion ($8.8 billion) underground storage site in Forsmark, which is expected to be fully functional by the 2030s. Meanwhile, Finland has been building the Onkalo repository on Olkiluoto Island at a depth of 400 to 430 meters (about 1,312 to 1,411 feet), with a trial run currently in progress.
Radioactive waste can be reprocessed to provide more fuel for other nuclear power plants, as done in Russia, China, and Japan.
Recovered plutonium can be used for nuclear weapons production and any unused uranium adds around 25% to 30% more energy from the original mined stock of uranium fuel.
The US is not currently active in this arena: According to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), there are no commercial reprocessing facilities of spent nuclear reactor fuel in the US. There is “limited interest expressed or expected from potential applicants for reprocessing facilities, including advanced reactor designers, in the near-term use of reprocessed spent fuel, the agency said in a 2021 memo about discontinuing rulemaking about reprocessing spent fuel. The NRC noted that stakeholders’ concerns about “proliferation” were a reason to cease the rulemaking process; this may be part of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, with its three pillars of “non-proliferation, disarmament, and peaceful uses of nuclear energy.”
While nuclear waste disposal still remains a challenge, developments such as generation IV nuclear reactors and aqueous and pyro-chemical approaches by the Advanced Fuel Cycle Programme in the UK, can be a step forward toward improving nuclear power as a continued source of energy in the future.
*Robin Whitlock is an England-based freelance journalist specializing in environmental issues, climate change, and renewable energy, with a variety of other professional interests, including green transportation.
The buildup of nuclear waste is living proof that economics prevails over human safety. At the present rate of storage of spent rods, how much will be stored 1000 years from now? Huh?