Nuclear Fuel Pools Pose Safety And Health Risks
While we experiment with different fuel and power options, many different mixtures of chemicals and dangerous elements have become a part of our habitat. Nuclear fuel pools are one of the concerning results.
While we experiment with different fuel and power options, many different mixtures of chemicals and dangerous elements have become a part of our habitat. Nuclear fuel pools are one of the concerning results. These are above ground pool type enclosures that contain used reactor fuel. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine have recently warned about their dangers.
Some of the dangers revolve around the possible scenario of terrorism. This threat has forced specialists to look at what could happen if these pools are tampered with. Even a small leak would cause contamination widespread enough to require evacuation of millions of people. This is mild compared to the many deaths from radiation-induced cancer. The results would cause billions of dollars of harm.READ ALSO: Nuclear Power – is it to be the ‘Next Big Thing’?
The possibilities of a disaster hit home when an earthquake compromised the integrity of the Fukushima Daiichi plant in March of 2011. The ongoing consequences have brought the reality of these complications to the forefront. More than 30 states in the U.S. House these above ground pools. This is an incredibly large population to consider in the wake of a disaster. Professor of Aeronautics and Engineering at the California Institute of Technology, Joseph E. Shepherd, brings to the table the NRC’s refusal to consider the consequences of terrorism of another tampering of these pools.
There is another possible way to store this used fuel. The rods can be removed and stored in dry casks. This has been an option for more than 30 years. The idea, however, has been refuted due to the outstanding implementation cost of $4 billion.
Dangerous elements continue to be part of our modern world, as we try to keep up with the demand for power and convenience. The cost, however, may very well be the safety and health of our environment.
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Rachel Kowalski
Rachel Kowalski is the Cybersecurity Analyst at TrendinTech, where she covers vulnerabilities, ransomware, supply chain attacks, nation-state operations and the security rules shaping organizations in the United States and Europe. Before moving into journalism she worked as a threat intelligence analyst at a security vendor and later reported for CyberScoop and the security desk at Wired, covering the SolarWinds compromise and the ransomware wave that hit hospitals and pipelines. Rachel holds a Master of Science in Cybersecurity from the Georgia Institute of Technology and attends Black Hat and DEF CON in Las Vegas each year, where she follows research from the security community. She writes to make risks and countermeasures understandable to people who are not specialists.
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