At last a journalist has tackled the issue of nuclear waste. Yet, even Austyn Gaffney , writing in Grist, , did not dare to suggest the obvious first move to control this monstrous problem. -
Stop making nuclear waste
The nuclear lobby boasts that Finland has solved this problem.:
Great copper and cast iron casks up to two stories tall will be lowered deep into a bedrock tomb, to bury toxic nuclear wastes that will remain toxic for many thousands of years.
And Finland got that essential precious jewel - community consent. But did they, really?
Finland's KBS-3 nuclear waste disposal system was designed by Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company, SKB., but rejected by Swedish Environmental Court. "The foremost reason is that as the project was being discussed with the public, SKB’s research was found to be incomplete and, in certain cases, inaccurate.
When, in 2011, Sweden’s SKB first applied for a license to build the Forsmark repository, the KBS-3 project documentation was published, which made it possible to give the project a review that would be independent from the nuclear industry’s own evaluation.
In February 2016, a special expert group appointed by the government, called the Swedish National Council for Nuclear Waste (Kärnavfallsrådet), published a 167-page report entitled “Nuclear Waste State-of-the-Art Report 2016: Risks, uncertainties and future challenges.” Among other things, it identifies the repository project’s risks and uncertainties having to do with earthquake impacts, with the long-term prospects of financing and monitoring the site’s condition, and with the health effects of low doses of radiation.
Finland has no such expert body. The concept of the repository, under construction in Euroajoki municipality, is criticized by many Finnish scientists, but the government is not taking notice and is likewise ignoring the scientific objections coming from its neighbor Sweden."
With the proliferation of all kinds of nuclear facilities, big and small, - what about RADIOACTIVITY AND HUMAN HEALTH, , SAFETY, ENVIRONMENT, WEAPONS PROLIFERATION, TERRORISM RISKS ?
- NAH - they don't matter. WHAT MATTERS IS COMMUNITY CONSENT.
And, I commend Austyn Gaffney, for quietly shedding light on the salient facts here:
In the USA the Federal Government (not the nuclear companies) has the legal responsibility for the nuclear waste. And it is sort of committed to "consent-based" siting of waste dumps, since it was forced by community opposition do dump its old Nevada nuclear dump plan.
Even in Finland, a campaign to get community consent took many years, and the community got inadequate information, and Finland had a string tradition of trust in the government.
In Canada - it's been a worse story. The government, (helped by subservient media) has had to resort to all sorts of bribery. And those pesky First Nations, who love the land, the environment, have not been all that willing to accept waste dumps, even with the bribery.
The thing is - people can be more easily conned into having a toxic nuclear waste dump nearby, if they already have nuclear facilities, and if they get the various government bribes, and of course - the perpetual promise of jobs jobs jobs.
But there would be plenty of jobs in shutting down nuclear facilities too.
Why does nobody, - not even that excellent writer, Austyn Gaffney - ever suggest that logical first step?
Thanks for this: from the UK: where our governments are busily committed to, and searching for a national GDF for our massive piles of nuclear waste.. with "community consent" .. which so far they have been unable to gain despite bribery and skullduggery/back door deal attempts with local regional government leaders.