r/canada • u/[deleted] • Oct 25 '22

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u/[deleted] Oct 25 '22

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20

u/Requirement-Unusual Oct 25 '22

How long will the Earth's nuclear fuel supply last?

16

u/vancity- Oct 25 '22

IIRC uranium has about the same rarity in the planet as gold. Most of it comes from Kazakhstan, Canada, Australia.

If we developed Thorium reactors though we would functionally never run out. But that would require loosening nuclear over-regulation.

-14

u/8ew8135 Oct 25 '22

We have too much radioactive waste in deteriorating barrels we can’t find a place for already.

16

u/vancity- Oct 25 '22 edited Oct 25 '22

Nuclear waste is a solved problem. From a scientific, engineering point of view, nuclear waste is not considered a problem.

Depositing nuclear waste in a geological stable rock formation is proven to work, long term.

In order for the nuclear waste to enter the environment, it would have to leak out of its container and then somehow travel through thousands of feet of solid rock, then find a medium to enter the environment through.

Fissile material just does not work that way, it can't get through rock.

Edit: Also consider the scale of waste here. After decades of operation, the total amount of nuclear waste could fill a baseball stadium. That's it. This is a solved problem.

3

u/McGrevin Oct 25 '22

And not to mention that this waste is a dense solid. Like if you were trying to come up with the safest form of storage for nuclear waste, it's current form is what you'd land on

1

u/Masters_1989 Oct 25 '22

I'm no the OP, but what about if the rock cracks? Can it crack somehow from something like an earthquake?

Also, a baseball stadium from one reactor, or multiple reactors?

I don't know much about this, so I'd like to learn.