Wednesday, April 13, 2011

How Much Nuclear Waste?

How much nuclear waste is generated by world? This article at Symmetry Breaking magazine has a clue.
According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, U.S. nuclear power plants have produced roughly 70,000 tons of radioactive waste over the last four decades. By 2025, scientists expect the amount of waste to be roughly 100,000 tons.
Do the rest of the calculations yourself. Roughly divide above numbers by the number of reactors in USA and multiply by the number of reactors in the world. If you have any idea about the nature of nuclear radiation and hence nuclear waste then the numbers will only leave a churning feeling in your stomach.