Should We Recycle Nuclear Waste Instead of Burying It?

BOX SCORE: Nuclear Wasted

Puzzle Summary:

In the US we store our nuclear waste (NW) in a desert but other countries like France, Russia, and China recycle NW for clean energy, less storage, energy independence, and less mining. It's been estimated at our current utilization of uranium NW could supply energy for 300 years but older nuclear power plants are being decommissioned over safety concerns.

ONE PARROT thinks there will be 1.2B climate refugees by 2050, and it's difficult to image how nuclear can't be part of a successful carbon drawdown. THE OTHER PARROT thinks there is great danger from nuclear energy, and other energy solutions should be pursued.

With recycled nuclear waste we could ramp up deployment of nuclear power to replace carbon rich fossil fuels. Both Parrots make their good points over and over and over again. What did our nonpartisan scoring system say?                        

 

BOX SCORE for Nuclear Waste?
Weighted-Average Forecast

:67%: ± 6% Nonpartisan Score
Sides of the Table 4/4
Wall of Information 7/8
Cultural Windows 12/16
Columns of Bias 7/8

Conclusion: LEADERBOARD WORTHY

 

Top Four Key Reasons in Favor of Recycling Nuclear Waste

We’ll be more energy independent
Nuclear makes for affordable power
Nuclear works when the sun and wind don’t
Nuclear has very low emissions

 

Top Four Key Reasons Against Recycling Nuclear Waste

Nuclear power? NIMBY
Wind & Solar doesn’t want the competition
Fossil fuels don’t want the competition
Americans get paid well to store nuclear waste

 

Where Can We Agree?®: Four Odd Couples In-Favor

Ethicist Democrats & Republican Hawks
Landlords & Urban Full-Time
Liberty Republicans & Civil Servants
Rural FT & Urban Investors

 

Where Can We Agree?®: Four Odd Couples Against

Caregivers & Energy States
Unions & Entrepreneurs
Renewables & Raw Materials
Moralist Republicans & Democratic Leadership

 

Four A-hah Moments

(Yes) US might only need one NW recycling plant
(Yes) France has been recycling NW for 30 years

(No) Solar & Fossil both don’t want nuclear competition
(No) US pays $7B to other Americans to store NW

 

Politics 4.0 DNA (ACGT) Conclusion

We predict a solid :67%: super majority of roles in this country with a slightly higher error margin of ±6% to support the Recycling of Nuclear Waste over burying perfectly good energy in the ground.  Thrift (T) types point out that we spend way more burying it than recycling. Abundance (A) types want to use the cheaper energy to make goods less expensive. Commerce (C) types want the government to stop picking winners and losers based on whim. Governance (G) types want to stretch green investments for the most impact for the least expenditures.  

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Posted 6 months ago