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Discussion (5 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews
When you point out it exists they tell you it’s minor (it all fits in baseball field is the used argument)
When you point at the real scale and the costs of cleaning up they then they proceed accusing you of not being patriotic enough.
We have been engineering solutions to tough problems forever. But step 0 is admitting that there is a problem.
Now we are at the denial stage.
Like many proponents, I'm not claiming the problem does not exist. I do think it is minor, although not insignificant. But I think you (and in general nuclear opponents) claim that the problem is not only significant, it is a deal breaker.
Decommissioning a gigawatt scale nuclear reactor costs an average of $1 BN in the US. Holtec International specializes in this work [1].
So, I did Step 0 in your list: admitting there is a problem.
Would you mind proceeding to Step 1: admitting there is a solution?
[1] https://holtecinternational.com/company/divisions/hdi/
There were various accidents and a great deal of improper (at least by modern standards) handling of materials and wastes. The cleanup being talked about here is about cleaning up that contamination.
There's no dispute from anyone on any side that I am aware of that these places are heavily contaminated, need to be cleaned up, and are complicated to clean up.
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This headline and the findings have absolutely nothing to do with handling nuclear waste from commercial power production or commercial nuclear reactor sites.
Report titled:
> Nuclear Waste Cleanup:
> Changes Needed to Ensure DOE Is Not Prematurely Excluding Less Expensive Options for Large Projects