240
A transportation option that has not been seriously considered but avoids nearly all
of these problems is to bring in the waste by air. For infrastructure, this only requires
that a runway or landing strip be constructed near the repository entrance portal.
Existing military cargo aircraft that can handle canisters of high-level nuclear waste
include the C-5 Galaxy and the C-17 Globemaster. These are heavy transport aircraft operated by the Air Mobility Command of the U.S. Air Force, who are experts
at moving heavy cargo like M-1 Abrams tanks from place to place around the world.
Transport canisters for radioactive waste can be designed to meet weight and size
requirements for these aircraft, and shielded to protect the pilots and crew from
radiation exposure during transport. A transport canister would undoubtedly have
different properties than a storage canister because the requirements are very different. The waste would be transferred at the destination into specialized storage canisters before going underground, allowing the transport canisters to be reused.
Aircraft have several advantages over ground transport. They can fly routes that
avoid population centers, keeping the waste away from cities and “nuclear free
zones.” Air transit is also much faster than ground options, ensuring transit times for
the waste that are short, reducing chances for mishaps that come from being “on the
road.” According to some calculations, trucks and other road vehicles have a risk of
accidents per mile traveled that is hundreds of times greater than aircraft. The majority of aircraft accidents that do occur are weather-related, but since cargo planes do
not have to fly on a fixed schedule, the flights can be restricted to routes and periods
with good weather. Nuclear security concerns about bad actors trying to hijack
trucks carrying transuranic waste are minimized when high-flying cargo planes with
fighter escorts are used. This kind of new thinking is needed for Yucca Mountain or
any other repository site to become viable for storing high level radioactive waste,
and allowing the nuclear power program to have a new lease on life.
Along with new, standardized reactor designs that are much less prone to overheating and meltdown, other fuel options are available as well. As explained earlier,
the 235 U- 238 U- 239 Pu fuel cycle used in current nuclear reactors is a relic of the Cold
War atomic weapons manufacturing process. A different fuel cycle can be based on
thorium instead (IAEA 2005). Thorium itself does not fission, but is known as a
“fertile” element in reactors. When exposed to a neutron flux, thorium will undergo
a series of nuclear reactions that eventually result in the creation of the light uranium isotope 233 U. This isotope is fissionable, and breaks down into lighter daughter
elements. It does not produce the heavy transuranic elements like plutonium, americium, and curium that come from irradiating 238 U. Avoiding transuranics in the
nuclear waste makes it much less toxic over long time scales, and the absence of
plutonium renders it useless to those seeking to manufacture weapons. The future of
nuclear power will be defined by new reactor technology, new fuel cycles, a reduction in the costs and commissioning times for new reactors, and an agreed-upon
policy and plan for dealing with high-level nuclear waste.
Geothermal energy in the past was restricted to volcanic areas with geysers or
hot springs. Unfortunately, these are rarely located where the energy is needed.
Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) technology allows heat to be extracted from
the crust of the Earth at extreme depths anywhere in the world. EGS utilizes the fact
12 Moving into the Energy Future
A transportation option that has not been seriously considered but avoids nearly all
of these problems is to bring in the waste by air. For infrastructure, this only requires
that a runway or landing strip be constructed near the repository entrance portal.
Existing military cargo aircraft that can handle canisters of high-level nuclear waste
include the C-5 Galaxy and the C-17 Globemaster. These are heavy transport aircraft operated by the Air Mobility Command of the U.S. Air Force, who are experts
at moving heavy cargo like M-1 Abrams tanks from place to place around the world.
Transport canisters for radioactive waste can be designed to meet weight and size
requirements for these aircraft, and shielded to protect the pilots and crew from
radiation exposure during transport. A transport canister would undoubtedly have
different properties than a storage canister because the requirements are very different. The waste would be transferred at the destination into specialized storage canisters before going underground, allowing the transport canisters to be reused.
Aircraft have several advantages over ground transport. They can fly routes that
avoid population centers, keeping the waste away from cities and “nuclear free
zones.” Air transit is also much faster than ground options, ensuring transit times for
the waste that are short, reducing chances for mishaps that come from being “on the
road.” According to some calculations, trucks and other road vehicles have a risk of
accidents per mile traveled that is hundreds of times greater than aircraft. The majority of aircraft accidents that do occur are weather-related, but since cargo planes do
not have to fly on a fixed schedule, the flights can be restricted to routes and periods
with good weather. Nuclear security concerns about bad actors trying to hijack
trucks carrying transuranic waste are minimized when high-flying cargo planes with
fighter escorts are used. This kind of new thinking is needed for Yucca Mountain or
any other repository site to become viable for storing high level radioactive waste,
and allowing the nuclear power program to have a new lease on life.
Along with new, standardized reactor designs that are much less prone to overheating and meltdown, other fuel options are available as well. As explained earlier,
the 235 U- 238 U- 239 Pu fuel cycle used in current nuclear reactors is a relic of the Cold
War atomic weapons manufacturing process. A different fuel cycle can be based on
thorium instead (IAEA 2005). Thorium itself does not fission, but is known as a
“fertile” element in reactors. When exposed to a neutron flux, thorium will undergo
a series of nuclear reactions that eventually result in the creation of the light uranium isotope 233 U. This isotope is fissionable, and breaks down into lighter daughter
elements. It does not produce the heavy transuranic elements like plutonium, americium, and curium that come from irradiating 238 U. Avoiding transuranics in the
nuclear waste makes it much less toxic over long time scales, and the absence of
plutonium renders it useless to those seeking to manufacture weapons. The future of
nuclear power will be defined by new reactor technology, new fuel cycles, a reduction in the costs and commissioning times for new reactors, and an agreed-upon
policy and plan for dealing with high-level nuclear waste.
Geothermal energy in the past was restricted to volcanic areas with geysers or
hot springs. Unfortunately, these are rarely located where the energy is needed.
Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) technology allows heat to be extracted from
the crust of the Earth at extreme depths anywhere in the world. EGS utilizes the fact
12 Moving into the Energy Future