In a recent article, Catherine Marquis-Homeyer made some statements
about nuclear power that are not true. The fuel that is removed from existing
nuclear plants is not "spent" in the sense that it has no fuel value.
There are known ways to use this material as fuel in more advanced reactors.
The material, if not properly managed, is dangerous, but there has never been an
injury or death caused by exposure to used nuclear fuel, even though we have
been handling the material for more than 50 years. That record is the result of
planning and engineering, not luck.
Nuclear power is clean enough to operate inside sealed submarines. That is
pretty darn clean when compared to all other available power sources.
Rod Adams
Editor, Atomic Insights