Modern Day Plants
Nuclear power contributes to
approximately 20% of the United States power production and is
responsible for the majority of the US’s green energy
production According to the US Energy Information
Administration, there is currently 61 nuclear power plants
operating in the United states and 35 of which have multiple
reactors. The largest nuclear power plant is the Palo Verde
power plant in Arizona which has three reactors and a peak
output of nearly 4000 megawatts. Conversely, the smallest
power plant is R.E. Ginna in New York which utilizes only one
reactor and produces a peak of a little more than 500
megawatts.
Challenges
Perhaps the largest problem when
dealing with nuclear power plants is their waste. One typical
nuclear power plant generates about 22 tons of waste. When
compared to the waste created by a typical coal plant, about
125,000 tons of ash and 193,000 tons of sludge, 22 tons
doesn’t seem like a lot. The problem comes from finding
methods and places to safely dispose of it. At the moment, all
of the current nuclear waste is being held in temporary
storage containers on site of the power plants while the
political world fights over what to do with it. The most
likely option is Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Billions of dollars
has been poured into excavating this mountain with the plan of
burring it. However, at this point, even if the project
eventually finishes, there would not be enough room to store
all of the waste. Additionally, the government is receiving
strong push back from the people of Nevada who do not want a
mountain filled with radioactive material.
Image from CNN of Yucca
Mountain
Potential Solutions
A couple other potential solutions
have been research to no avail. One of the other possibilities
that was researched is called reprocessing and is utilized by
France, Japan, Russia, and the U.K. Reprocessing facilities
enrich used nuclear rods in order to extract fresh fuel.
However, this process does not quite solve the problem as it
still produces radioactive waste, expect this waste is capable
of being used in nuclear weapons. Politicians fear that this
would make for an irresistible target for thieves. The other
option that was looked into was building breeder reactors.
Breeder reactors use plutonium rather than uranium in the
core. When plutonium goes through fission, it creates more
plutonium which is essentially creating more fuel. Therefore,
ideally, a breeder reactor would become a self-sustaining
energy supply. However, after a failed attempt in Japan and a
high price tag, it was determined that breeder reactors are
not currently feasible. This leaves nuclear power plants with
an uncertain future as politicians and scientist work to find
a solution to the problem.