The estimate for the nation's first nuclear waste dump just went up $32 billion since the last estimate in 2001, now reaching $90 billion. That assumes that it won't go up another $32 billion every few years, and that it will even open. It also includes 100 years of operating costs, after which the site is to be sealed up "permanently," though what that means when the waste will be highly dangerous for at least 150,000 years, I don't know. What it seems to mean is that this place is designed to last until everyone responsible for it is dead and therefor can't be held accountable, leaving the future to fend for itself.
Add this to the fact that building new nuclear power plants isn't economically viable, and we should realize that nuclear power is not a way out of the climate crisis. We will be hearing more and more about nuclear as a carbon neutral energy source, but that money is much better spent on clean renewable energy sources including solar, wind, geo-thermal, and tidal. The economics are actually much better, and improving, and they don't create the short term risks of leaks and the long term certainty of radioactive waste that lasts 15 times longer than human civilization has even existed.
photo: Stefan Kühn
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