Nuclear power is a remarkable source of energy as it is not only carbon-neutral but also has the lowest mortality rate per TWh of any type of energy, like wind and solar. It is immensely powerful, compact, and environmentally harmonious than other carbon-neutral energy.
However, the only thing holding it back is the concern about nuclear waste. Governments and people worldwide are terrified of its ill effects that are detrimental to life. But the US-based company called Deep Isolation has a new technology that will solve this dilemma for good.
What Is Nuclear Waste?
Like any energy-producing technology, nuclear power results to waste products. According to World Nuclear Association, there are three types of nuclear waste that are classified based on their radioactivity. They could be low-, intermediate-, and high-level nuclear waste.
The low level is composed of only lightly-contaminated items that contain only 1% of total radioactivity. Meanwhile, the high-level waste is mainly comprised of nuclear fuel that has been designated as waste from nuclear reactions and contains 95% of radioactivity but only accounts for only 3% of the total volume of waste.
But unlike other energy-generating technology and industry, nuclear power takes full responsibility for all its waste. Today, there are already many permanent disposal facilities for both low- and intermediate-level waste, while facilities for high-level waste are under construction.
The association also added that little waste is generated with nuclear power since only a little amount of nuclear fuel is needed. For example, a waste reactor supplying the electricity a person needs would be about the size of a brick, but only 5 grams or about the weight of a sheet of paper is considered a high-level waste.
Despite this assurance, nuclear waste is still a problem and could still be deadly for hundreds of thousands of years. Fortunately, Deep Isolation has a solution to that.
Deep Isolation's New Technology Will Help Solve Problem in Nuclear Waste
Deep Isolation has found a way to repurpose technology and techniques used in the fossil fuel industry to create a nuclear power disposal system, according to an article in Medium.
The company plans to use the deep drilling technique that is extremely accurate in geological surveying and simulation. It will dig boreholes far below the water table and deep into rocks where it will not see the light of day for billions of years, no matter how geologically active they could be.
It can store as much high-grade nuclear waste as possible and deal it off with concrete. The company explains that the immense pressure of the rock above fully isolates the nuclear waste.
Furthermore, the rod-like casings should stop any leakage to prevent anything bad from happening. Although pop culture may have shown a glowing green goo picture of nuclear waste, this radioactive waste is solid and dense and does not hold enough energy to meltdown and create radioactive lava. Also, it does not glow unlike those depicted in the media.
The company has already created prototypes and demonstrations to show how the technology works. The US Department Of Energy has recently awarded them $3.6 million to turn this into a universal nuclear waste disposal solution that will work for every nuclear reactor.
Watch the video below to learn how the Deep Isolation technology works:
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