Yucca Mountain: The USA's Nuclear Dump

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[@megaprojects9649]

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[@dertythegrower]

Do a video on the leaking cooling canals in Miami Florida at Turkey Point, completely ruining coral, fish, and drinking water for millions.. oh, and it is next to a national park key to life, known as The Everglades (super important). This is not talked about but a huge deal

[@dertythegrower]

Turkey Point Leaking into Drinking Water In Miami, miamiherald newspaper 2016

[@ajgunter8932]

@@dertythegrower nobody cares about Florida.. lol

[@juantransportador]

HELLO from las Vegas Nevada, can you make a documentary about 5G, a lots of people are talking about the dangers of some sort of radiation, thank you and GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.

[@mustafaemad3614]

Please make a video about Bar Lev Line, costing around $300 million in 1973.

[@csdn4483]

I wish people realized this. The whole reason the spent fuel (and yes, I'm going to call it what it is) requires hundreds of thousands of years to store is because we're throwing away perfectly good fuel due to the Non-Proliferation Treaties. 95% of spent fuel is still usable fuel, mostly U238, but there's also some U235 still in the spent fuel as well as fissile transuranics like Plutonium 239 and 241 along with Americium. Of the remaining spent fuel, most can either be used for medicinal purposes (cancer treatments, tracers, etc) and industrial uses. Of the overall spent fuel, only 0.5% is actual non-usable junk. It also has the shortest half life of round 100 years. This actual waste could easily be stored for 1000 years without issue. Again though, the reason this does not happen is because of the Non-Proliferation Treaties in place since the Carter Presidency. At this point, it might be worth working with the International Atomic Energy Agency to set up a neutral location where spent fuel could be sent from around the world and then reprocessed. Then the IAEA could take the weapon's grade materials and burn it to power the equipment used to reprocess the incoming spent fuel and send the reprocessed fuel and useful radio-nuclides back to the countries where the spent fuel came from and it could be used again and the true waste safely stored away.

[@anydaynow01]

Wait, am I on the right websight? An actual educated and well thought out opinion! I do like everything you said, maybe a location like Canada can host this and the Canadian government gets a kickback. I also think a well regulated governing infrastructure may be able to be watchdog for in country reprocessing. But in the grand scheme of things a container ship or two can transport an entire country's backlog of fission waste to such a facility, and in the future much smaller annual or biannual shipments would be required. It's ideas like this which make me want to lease a private sovereign island to start a pilot program like Space X did to start their rocket business.

[@stupidburp]

NPT restricted material transfer but the ban on some types of reprocessing was a separate order by President Carter. The intent of that was to further support NPT but was not required by it. It could be changed now without violating the treaty as long as all material remained in the USA.

[@uncleelias]

The problem goes beyond using current technology which continues to produce these types of waste as well as continues to be a potential source of catastrophic harm which lasts for decades or centuries. Until the existing nuclear regulatory and energy companies can address these issues we will continue to be caught between a rock and a hard decision. Simon has done at least one video on asteroids. None of the current nuclear facilities can withstand a Tunguska event. Think about what an event like that would do.

[@stupidburp]

@@uncleelias A rock from space could land on a chemical plant, petroleum refinery, or sports stadium with severe consequences as well. But the odds of it happening are remote since most of the Earth is ocean and open land. Mitigation measures have greatly improved and the technology for vastly reducing waste exists now. It just requires public acceptance of better designs and systems that are already known and investment in them.

[@mary9983]

Ty! Do you know why they're not building 4th gen reactors and recycling the fuel? There's so much that gets put in storage each cycle. At least now they're expanding the time the plants can go between shut downs and letting the rods work an extra 6 months or so.

[@Upadastra]

If we would fall back to living in caves again, the ones near Yucca mountain would at least have 'central heating'

[@applejacks971]

and florescent lights...well, florescent everything actually.

[@fuckYTIDontWantToUseMyRealName]

You wouldn't know anything was different

[@johnstewart1404]

actually it wouldn’t, the containers are shielded to lower the radiation they give off

[@quesodillanocheese6198]

@@johnstewart1404 stop ruining jokes, john.

[@Jmp5nb]

And great lighting!

[@rapidthrash1964]

Sometimes, despite all the opposition, shit still needs to get done a certain way.

[@globalautobahn1132]

Exactly

[@metgath]

Unfortunately it doesn't work that way in the US for large projects like this. If random environmental group xyz gets their panties in a twist the project stops regardless if it's the best idea available.

[@Gnefitisis]

This is why I am a pro-nuclear Green party voter.

[@BIGJATPSU]

The US should just partner with Elon and shot a bunch of cargo variant Starships into the Sun loaded with the waste.

[@Lowmanification]

@@BIGJATPSU The problem with this is the risk that nuclear waste may get Challengered in the upper atmosphere and rain down on the entire planet. Maybe some time in the future when space travel has become more pedestrian, but at the moment people are still scared about the risk of transporting waste by train.

[@TheBandit7613]

I live somewhat near yucca mountain. I'm perfectly okay with them using it to bury the waste. The only thing I ask is that they do groundwater testing from time to time and if there's a problem, either fix it or move me. I think that's perfectly reasonable. The people that are against it don't live anywhere near here. Somebody needs to just start doing it

[@jackfanning7952]

You may be perfectly OK with Yucca Mountain becoming a perpetual nuclear exclusion zone, but the Shoshone and Paiute Indians who legally own their sacred Yucca Mountain are not. You mention groundwater monitoring. Were you aware that a California Institute of Technology Physicist, Dr. Victor Gilinsky, testified before Congress that the existence of water anywhere in Yucca Mountain (which is 8% water) will cause corrosion and fissures in the nuclear waste containers, easily causing leakage and distributing their contents into the local ecosystem. How do you get highly radioactive waste out of groundwater? Nobody knows or has enough $$$$ to make it happen. As you know if you live out West, water is more precious than gold. Radioactive water - not so much. Did you know that the Department of Energy studied the porousness of Yucca by pouring 63,000 gallons of water on top of Yucca to determine how many years or decades it would take for any of that water to reach the level of the proposed repository. The study was ended prematurely though when all 63,000 gallons reached the center of the mountain in 3 months. Yucca Mountain has more fissures and cavities than a sponge cake. Yucca was chosen not because it was suitable for radioactive waste disposal. It definitely is far from suitable for that purpose, even if the U.S. government owned it. It was chosen because there were less citizens in Nevada to object than in the other 3 sites under consideration. Also because generous contributions to the local politicians , including Sen. Harry Reid, after he was suitably rewarded for reneging on his promise to the citizens of Nevada to steadfastly fight against it. If someone "just does it," how can we undo the damage? Did you know $18 billion was already thrown down that porous Yucca Mountain drain. The DOE says it would take about 30 years and $95 billion to finish? When completed it's maximun capacity would be 70,000 tons of waste. There is currently over 90,000 tons of high level waste sitting in cooling ponds and casks at utilities within spitting distance of every major city in the U.S. Looks like we need a bigger boat or need to stop rowing, so to speak.

[@fernandomarques5166]

While I also think ground water testing should be done I'd like to inform you that the nuclear waste is solid.

[@t.w.1672]

​@@fernandomarques5166some of it can be solvated in water though

[@jackfanning7952]

@@fernandomarques5166 Wow. You must be a nuclear scientist to figure out that nuclear waste is solid! What a brilliant comment!! Nuclear waste emits ionizing radiation. Do you understand what that means? Atoms of nuclear waste are randomly exploding for 10-20 times the half-life of the given element, sending out subatomic particles that can destroy living cells, damage DNA and the immune system, mutate living creatures, cause birth defects and miscarriages, and cancer. The trillions of radioactive atoms in one gram of nuclear waste will continue to emit these subatomic particles that can be carried through the air and water to places far away from the origin. They will bioaccumulate, remain in the environment, and create ever-increasing hazards for longer than mankind has been in existence unless they are completely isolated from all contact with living organisms. Since nuclear waste is solid, you should be comfortable storing it your living room for the next million or so years. What could possibly go wrong, Mr. Wizard?

[@OccidentalonPurpose]

Once it is showing up in the water it's kinda too late. To "fix it" could be many decades or entirely futile. And with deep aquifers it could move in ways we can't predict. Not to mention once fossil water is ruined, well, it's ruined,

[@simonrodriguez4685]

It’s easier for people in Finland to Finnish what they start...

[@WhatWhy42]

Everything but that thought... Lol

[@M4cex]

I other words "It's easier for Finnish to finish what they started"

[@DannyHeywood]

Wait hang on....Did you just say Germany has a Nuclear Disposal Site called ''Shart Arse'' ??

[@MirageGSM]

I had trouble parsing that as well... It is called "Schacht Asse" with "Schacht" simply meaning "shaft" as in mining shaft (because it is a former salt mine) and "Asse" being the name of the small hill range it is situated in. The other site mentioned - Morsleben - has been has since been shut down.

[@HeyItsJonny]

@@MirageGSM ah yes, shat ass. I have been enlightened.

[@kustom4935]

Hahaha... I caught that too!

[@therealamericanjohnsmith2343]

Yep, caught that one right way too. Too funny. What would be funnier to to know how many people were completely oblivious.

[@tent7014]

Its used for storage of unpleasant substances (Human /Nuclear)

[@robknapp8647]

I've been to Nevada and it seems like the perfect place to store nuclear waste.

[@valkyrie273]

Go hawks! Whats up from ames,ia!! Lol

[@brandonhill2183]

funny...

[@kleuafflatus]

Idk, NYC subway also seems good. I mean you'd barely notice the difference.

[@jayyyzeee6409]

Nevada is America's ass. It would've been named "Ass", but that name was already taken by Germany's waste dump.

[@MrCTruck]

@@jayyyzeee6409 I live here and I wanna disagree with you but it's tough

[@jamiesuejeffery]

I live in Nevada. We need to store the waste somewhere. I say let's store it here. Have you ever been to Nevada? Yucca Mountain only has rabbits and coyotes--no people, no cities, no...anything.

[@bruns.like.spoons9251]

I live here too and concur.

[@Verifraudreports]

worst most boring drive ever. winnemuca to slc

[@applejacks971]

That's the best part of Nevada and Arizona to me, there's nothing there. I'm from nebraska, and as little as we have, its still too much. I need to get to southwest Arizona, or somewhere out around Jean Nv, Primm, that's absolutely perfect for me!

[@r.blakehole932]

As far as I know, there is no long term, permanent storage site for nuclear waste which is highly radioactive (there is both low and high radioactive waste from power plants) anywhere in the world. So, if the storage site were finished at Yucca mountain then, if Nevada worked the approval right, Nevada and the people of Nevada could charge for storage of high level waste from literally all over the world. It could be HIGHLY profitable.

[@aaron5222]

@@Verifraudreports I live in utah, final destination of SLC is sad

[@eddiereekie2403]

I love how the politicians in the states either say yes or no to a bill, plan or anything else but will NOT provide alternatives

[@SkadooHusky]

That's the two party system for you. You don't need a solution. All you need to do is convince the voters that your opponent is worse.

[@rfichokeofdestiny]

@@SkadooHusky That deserves 1000 upvotes. This is exactly the divide and conquer scheme they pull. Any time you complain about an obviously corrupt candidate from either party, even 70% of their own voters will agree before saying "but we just can't take a chance that the *other* guys wins." If people voted only for people they trusted 100%, D.C. would be a ghost town.

[@aeroripper]

Operation: "Kick the Can"

[@meikgeik]

Why is it up to Nevada's politicians to provide an alternative? Yucca mountain is unsuitable for a whole host of reasons. It's geology and hydrology have never been suitably proven, and the space allocated in the design isn't adequate enough. The plan was rushed and short sighted.

[@uptowndunker6346]

Well they can’t say yes or no when they are questioned got to take whole vacation just to say yes or no

[@Cambesa]

A: No, dont store nuclear waste here B: Then use less energy A: No

[@Wag2112]

. . .. . . . A . No B. Then Deal with it A.

[@silvussol8966]

Where should they put it then. It has to go somewhere, and if it can’t go under an already irradiated mountain in the middle of the desert where should it go? And there is a time limit, the stuff is building up in the non-permanent storage sites where it currently is. So what do we do?

[@kclaptraffic]

Simple solution, start turning off plants till the problem is solved, inconvenience will put a solution into overdrive.

[@nicolaspaglione]

Ppl are stupid

[@Jmp5nb]

A: Yes B. More energy C. Of course Yes

[@Kalron9]

Did you ever do a video on how we got the image of a black hole on here? That'd be cool.

[@ianmathwiz7]

A video on the Event Horizon Telescope sounds like a pretty cool idea.

[@cooperfisken5197]

@@ianmathwiz7 or like the ones in Hawaii or sum

[@claudehall7889]

I vote to second Kalron's request.

[@Weerosie]

A think it was cern they made one yrs ago but only told us this April am sure if not last yr. Take care much love

[@ianmathwiz7]

@@cooperfisken5197 One of Simon's other channels just made something like that: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nmfdfIKMr75ojLc

[@curtisquick5471]

Unfortunately it'll take a major accident at a current storage site before people's opinions start to change. Better to be localized at one site, far from civilization, than have multiple storage sites which are next door to highly populated areas.

[@micahphilson]

"Noooo, you can't just build a safe storage site for this stuff in the middle of the desert!" "... okay, I guess until you let us, we'll just have to keep storing it in your backyard."

[@rfichokeofdestiny]

@@micahphilson The difference is that nobody knows it's being stored nearby already. The media and pressure groups never talk about that, so it might as well not exist.

[@dylandownard209]

@@rfichokeofdestiny I live like 10 miles from Hanford, WA. Trust me, people here are VERY aware of extremely dangerous high level radioactive waste of all different kinds being stored in leaking metal tanks under ground that will eventually seep into the aquifers and poison the Columbia River. They just don’t care because of what the news tells them to make them feel safe. There’s always news about the new VIT plant they’re building and how it’ll help clean up all the waste, but it’ll never get done. And it’s already too late.

[@yakub3962]

Storing it in yucca mountain would be a reasonable solution, but since today everyone with access to the internet has to cast their unwanted, uneducated and propaganda driven opinion, the united states can't make decisions anymore while the rest of the world moves on and simply does the right thing.

[@TetoSuperFan]

@@yakub3962 yeah totally bro, were the ones lagging behind fr, like when germany got rid of all theur nuclear power plants omg so progressive

[@yannickherrebaut8050]

Hey Simon! A suggestion: you could do a video about thorium reactors, apparently they produce a lot less radioactive waste, and can't melt down...

[@wyomins]

India already has started building them

[@WJV9]

@@wyomins - And China has a Thorium test reactor ready to run.

[@andrewray6262]

Thorium rocks!

[@SuperBoxhead]

Are we just going to ignore the Shart Arse?

[@Alex-w3t6r]

Came here to post this

[@samanthafox8273]

I'm certainly not! Nuclear Waste Shart Arse sounds like an original UK Punk band!

[@texasranger24]

I would love a video exploring the options of nuclear "waste" (it's unused fuel, really) recycling by either separation and reuse in conventional reactors, or for breeder type reactors. Also, the state of generation 4 reactors being developed and tested, like thorium, molten salt and sodium fast reactors. 95% or more of the high-level waste can be recycled today, and it might be even more in the future with more efficient breeders that generate new fuel and energy at the same time.

[@je-fq7ve]

pipe dreams even three years later

[@killernat1234]

People need to realise that the waste needs to be stored somewhere, otherwise it will just be sitting in barrels next to the power plants which will make it far more dangerous

[@anydaynow01]

The waste they are referring to is stored in seal nitrogen filled concrete and steel casks, which are more like movable bunkers than anything else.

[@Verifraudreports]

i would be more worried about the open air storage in kentucky than burring medical waste in nevada.. enviocare in utah is only 40 miles from slc. no one cares. its the west desert. its already radioactive, where do they think they mine uranium?

[@mohammedbingoldstein3639]

@@Verifraudreports Maybe you wont mind nuke waste being shipped by train and truck through your hometown, but I bet a lot of Nevadans do... especially considering they power up using Natural gas, solar, and hydro power. They dont generate nuke waste, why make them take it?

[@samthompson3714]

@@mohammedbingoldstein3639 the thing is they may hate the idea of it but it genuinely would change absolutely nothing about their lives. It might make some local jobs for those nearby, thats about it. Whatd he say, calculated increase of like 1mREM a year to locals? Eat a banana, boom similar thing. I live next to a nuclear power plant (granted, not in the states) by choice. Ive no reason to be worried, no reason to cry about it. The people upset are only upset because they buy into false fallacious arguments and pseudo science put forward by environmental groups and fossil fuel groups of the past looking to slander nuclear power one out of negligent fear the other out of competition. These people simply lack education on the topic to realize this will have literally no implication on their life ever. Even if the train crashed right in the middle of town: you know what would do the damage? The train crashing. Not the nuclear waste onboard that is securely contained and rated for such things.

[@mohammedbingoldstein3639]

@@samthompson3714 you say it has no impact in them, and in doing so deny the danger of transporting it through their communities, and storing the waste. Conveniently ignorant. If you like it and use nuke power, then store your own waste. Stop trying to externalize your pollution onto others.

[@nuketownbass8153]

Great stuff, keep it up. I’m a Reactor Operator at Arkansas Nuclear One Unit 2 and both of our reactors have been online since the mid 70’s and NONE of our spent fuel has ever left the facility. After years in the spent fuel pool, the fuel is moved to dry storage casks made of steel and concrete and those casks are stored on-site on concrete pads.

[@johnhuey7670]

Because there is no where to send the spent fuel you guys have you and 35 other states are in the same boat

[@garybulwinkle82]

Even the decommissioned nuclear plants leave their nuclear waste, usually in a small building with a wire fence around it, forever!! If there was a place to take it, it would mean trucks, of some sort, driving around the country with dangerous nuclear waste. The law of probability would predict an accident happening in which exposure and contamination would occur! What are acceptable risks and how many people are you willing to sacrifice!! It is always fine as long as it's the other guy!!

[@ReubenFarrelly]

@@garybulwinkle82 Trucks don't travel from site to site with a bit of nuclear waste dust loaded onto the back deck loose covered by a blanket. Waste is transported in containers that are so indestructible that they can withstand direct hits at high speed from anything you'd ever encounter on the road.

[@deerhawk7788]

​@@garybulwinkle82 please look up the containers theybtransport the waste in, they can handle a train crashing into them

[@ShawnJonesHellion]

I summon humans with my mind an words an they an the circle of family an friends around them that appear all act like they existed an did things before I summoned them. How do we sort you humans an the clones I summoned a hell of a lot of out so we know who we are talking to?

[@lairdbufflehead]

I was lucky enough to be one of only a few people allowed access to go inside Yucca Mountain well over a decade ago. It really is a huge project. Being driven past huge nuclear bomb craters Frenchman’s Flat and visiting Mercury City were almost surreal.

[@jackfanning7952]

Yucca Mountain was picked because of NIMBY. Nevada had fewer people to object than the other 3 sites under consideration. The existence of water in the mountain will cause corrosion and fissures in the nuclear waste containers that will start leaking, distributing their content into the local ecosystem. The Department of Energy did a test dumping 63,000 gallons of water on the mountain to see how many years it would take for moisture to reach the level of the proposed repository. The test was stopped after 3 months when all of the water reached the center of the mountain.

[@ShawnJonesHellion]

An you need to get ready cause out lord an savior Santa clause is coming in a few months as well

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:50 - Chapter 1 - Nuclear waste disposal 4:10 - Chapter 2 - Waste isolation plant 5:15 - Mid roll ads 6:45 - Chapter 3 - Yucca Moutain 9:20 - Chapter 4 - The complex 10:10 - Chapter 5 - Opposition 12:20 - Chapter 6 - The finnish expository 13:20 - Chapter 7 - Dead in water

[@ShawnJonesHellion]

0:22 obvious nazi race of jeffery epstein in jeffery epsteins google no other race is allowed on because their lies would fall apart .(plus money an gold an over privlidge an needing slaves to procreate to create children for him to have sex with someone willing) 12:30 Santa is coming

[@mheermance]

There's always the Moon base Alpha option, although we're missing the fusion powered Eagle spacecraft to fly it there.

[@mikez2779]

Unless we miraculously find a use for this waste? They actually did. Travelling Wave Reactor by Terrapower Waste Burner reactor by Copenhagen Atomics All sorts of fast breeder reactors like the one being designed by Elysium Industries for example. All sort of Thorium Molten Salt reactors like the one being designed by Flibe Energy There is a ton of these waste burning reactor designs that can be operational in several years if only there would be any kind of public support for it. Spent fuel IS NOT A WASTE. it's a material that so far has been used in maybe 1% of its potential. It just needs a different kind of reactor to keep on using it and by doing so: you decrease the volume of this waste - by pulling nonradioactive stuff out and reusing what can be reused reduce its half-life to hundreds of years instead of hundreds of thousands using liquid fuels makes it possible to reprocess spent fuel. There is a ton of useful stuff in this "waste" - noble gases, rare minerals both of that can have industrial uses, medical radioisotopes that can be used to save the lives of cancer patients. most of the spent fuel is the stuff that can be used as fuel all over again. By doing so you can decrease the volume of this waste to just 1%, and make money in the process. Sounds better than spending billions on making repositories, doesn't it? and also do remember - it's the stuff with a short half life that is insanely radioactive when you hear something would remain radioactive for a million years it means for most of this time it's barely radioactive at all. because that's how it works - its like draining a battery by plugging a light bulb into it. you can attach a tiny little bulb and there would be little light for a very long time (long-lived radioisotopes) or a huge lightbulb, which would give you lots of light, draining your battery so much faster (short-lived radioisotopes)

[@henryrollins9177]

Aaaah...you really know what you are talking about..! Good info, txs..!

[@mikez2779]

@@henryrollins9177 I just scratched the surface What really annoys me is everyone knows who Greta thunberg is - even if all she does is keep on banging about that we have a problem... And barely anyone knows who say Kirk Sorensen is - even if he spend the last 15 years trying to tell people how can we fix the problem.

[@joeinmi8671]

Frist thing I thought of, thorium reactors. To much $ and big business, contracts and gov. pay offs to take more of our money with nuclear waste before they'll actually do whats right.

[@mikez2779]

@@joeinmi8671 problem with thorium breeders is a heck of a lot of new devices, materials, technologies, procedures etc etc etc are still yet to be invented And then tested And then certified Even in China where this design is being pursued with a very significant effort it gonna take well over 10 years. Well.. we should still do that as this is the design that holds the most potential. I mean relatively cheap reactor that runs on dirt cheap and abundant fuel, makes significant amount of energy in a very reliable way that most likely will e too cheap to meter and leaves next to no waste? Why the hell do we need fusion reactors for? But for now we should look at those that can see commercial use a little sooner. There are modern designs that focus on using only the materials and tech that already tested and certified - say a ThorCon design. So even if they run on uranium fuel I'd still say it's worth it.

[@criticalhard]

I always wondered if this waste was a real waste, and i wondered if they weren't trying to find a way to use it

[@kleuafflatus]

Imagine thousands of years later when the people dig out the radioactive warning signs with 6 forgotten languages on it... It will be like the Rosetta stone except much more deadly lol

[@Kabup2]

'Hey Jack look! I found a burial site! Maybe we can find some gold, let's dig it!'

[@casinodelonge]

It makes you wonder that making a big deal of these sites would make them entirely interesting to future generations. Stonehenge was indeed an early example of a stone age nuclear disposal site.

[@IanCaine4728]

At the rate these storage projects are going, more likely so guys cutting scrap in 50 years will be like "what'd ya suppose is in all these rusted out storage tanks?"

[@mor4y]

Theres a interesting discussion about whether they should be signposted *at all* Signposts just lead to people being able to find the site, if you just burry it, then slowly return it to nature over a couple of hundred years, then the chances of it ever being found in the future even after a societal collapse are tiny. If you put signs up then the chances of it being found shoot up The other option is symbols, they work better than words in any language

[@Kabup2]

@@mor4y Egyptians learned that way, first they build huge pyramids, it didn't work well, then they started to building hidden burial sites. Less likely to be sacked.

[@Tuberuser187]

I would rather have Nuclear waste stored in a geological safe disposal facility 130km away from me than it being stacked up around the Country at all the power plants and the Nuclear industry that makes isotopes for things like RTGs.

[@dertythegrower]

Those isotopes in Miami nuclear plant is leaking into the water in Florida.. fact reported by nytimes and miami herald

[@71kimg]

Nevada agrees - 130km away from Nevada would be fine

[@myglockgopoppoppop]

I grew up in Nevada, everyone there seems to think it's some pristine utopia, how dare anyone even consider soiling it with Nuclear waste! The reality is that NEVADA IS AMERICA'S ASSHOLE, and a perfect location for it.

[@DTofMN]

@@dertythegrower Along with the fact reported that the isotope (tritium is the only one that I can find as having been reported) is well below any dangerous level and naturally occurs in all the water on the planet. It is even in your body, just like it was in all your ancestor's bodies going back billions of years.

[@Kabup2]

@Chedda Frumunda Besides, Las Vegas is already a glowing city

[@jimtalbott9535]

A few suggestions, one related to this project: The Hanford site Vitrification Plant, currently under construction. It's designed to take that High Level waste and embed it in gigantic glass logs. Also, the CANOL Project, and the USAF Heavy Press Program are excellent candidates for this channel.

[@kanthor7670]

I've had a few nuclear dumps in my time. You know what dump I want to hear about? The largest dump in human history, do a mega project on that!

[@tjcaruthers5593]

Being born and raised in Nevada(Reno/Sparks)I remember Yucca Mtn. being in the news all the time. It might be because of the incentives the federal government would offer(everyone and everything has a price), knowing that the waste does need a place to go, and I live hundreds of miles from Yucca I'm kinda in favor of it becoming the nations depository. As long as there is 0 chance of underground water contamination, seismic safe containment is a must, and at least a 97% chance plate tectonics wont interfere with the geology of the Yucca Mountain complex. The desert in Nevada is vast and something needs to be done with the ever growing stockpile of nuclear waste. I dont recall megaprojects doing an episode on ITER. That would be a good and hopeful episode but only in 20yrs. See what I did there?

[@weirdshibainu]

I live in Northern Nevada as well. I found it interesting that one of the challenges was how to develop a system that could warn future generations of the hazard of the site. A hundred years is easy. What about a thousand? 10,000? 100,000?

[@stupidburp]

@@weirdshibainu If it is reprocessed and used as fuel in other types of reactors you don't need to bother. The volume and hazards of material is reduced and can be returned to a state approximating the natural radioactivity of the surrounding earth within a couple hundred years. With that remaining material stored in tough dry casks deep underground where it originally came from then people will know what it is, where it is, and can even walk up next to it inside the tunnels. If they broke open a cask in a thousand years the material left at that point would be as radioactive as the surrounding rock in the tunnels. Still not a good idea to eat or inhale but the same can be said for numerous common materials.

[@weirdshibainu]

@@stupidburp Except it's not being reprocessed.

[@stupidburp]

@@weirdshibainu But it could be and the Yucca Mountain site could be used as storage for fuel. It only takes the political will to do so.

[@weirdshibainu]

@@stupidburp True. But that is always the X factor...isn't it? Have a prosperous 2021.

[@Viper-dn8ix]

Hey Simon! You should do a video on Denver International Airport. It's the largest airport in the world (King Fahd doesn't count...), fifth busiest in the USA, and the 15th busiest in the WORLD!) The airport has its share of conspiracy theories, gorgeous architecture, and plenty of budget overruns! It's truly a spectacular place that is deserving of a mega projects video.

[@michaelpipkin9942]

I live in Las Vegas, and I always thought it was funny that the place where we dump our nastiest waste is called Yucca.

[@michaelpipkin9942]

@@danstrayer111 Or Boulder Highway. Wait, that's where you pick up trash...

[@johnhuey7670]

We don't dump our waste at yucca mountain did you even watch the video

[@1jlinds]

Great video!! I would normally not comment but you included a picture of where I work. ANO is the picture at the 3:52 mark. This picture was taken between 2011-2012. In the top left of the picture (just above the 3 story white building) you can see the dry fuel storage canisters sitting on the fuel storage facility. Low and medium level radioactive waste is shipped offsite. The dry fuel canisters you can see in this picture are not designed for transport. As for the nuclear weapons you mentioned, some have been processed into fuel, burned in the two reactors here, and are in those cans currently. One topic you did not cover in this video is fuel recycling. The fuel in the storage cans is perfectly capable of being used still. They have to many fission product poisons to be viable for continued use as is. The fuel can be disassembled and separated from the poisons, mainly samarium, and reconstructed into new fuel assemblies. This process can be repeated indefinitely until all of the fuel is reduced to low level radioactive waste. The main road block to this is that President Carter shut down the fuel recycling industry after TMI and it has never truly been reconsidered. I would love to see a Megaprojects video on fuel recycling. This could extend the estimated nuclear fuel supply by thousands of years. Thank you.

[@timmotel5804]

Yes. It can be done. Expensive, but eventually positive action must begin somewhere/somehow. Just like a cancer. It can be ignored but ultimately it must be attended to...

[@lirrobinson8377]

Simon: Nuclear waste is going to affect people for thousands of years. Me: Bold of you to assume the human race won't be extinct by then...

[@edwardbrownfield3710]

Me: Optimistic. Very

[@gaylonfuller3312]

Excellent job! I work at WIPP. I sure wish our politicians could get this handled. We are in the saving the environment business. It has to go somewhere!

[@jackfanning7952]

How about the $3 billion mess that destroyed the tunnel and contaminated WIPP and cities hundreds of miles away. That is a minor issue that has to be worked out, don't you think?

[@therealamericanjohnsmith2343]

This is, as usual, another great video. I would like to point out one detail you kind of missed, and many people miss very often. When you were discussing how much waste is created by nuclear power stations, and nuclear weapons you listed off how many nuclear plants there are in the U.S. and showed their general location. The thing many people don't realize is that there are nuclear power plants in many other locations not normally considered, and in greater numbers than you might imagine. How is this possible? Every U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier is powered by 2 reactors. Also, most modern submarines also have nuclear power plants, at least the big missile boats, and modern attack subs of the U.S. Navy (subs are called boats). Funny story, I was in a college level Environmental Science class in the Puget Sound region and the anti-nuke group was giving a presentation about why nuclear power was bad, and explaining all the horrible things that would happen if nuclear reactors would be allowed in the region. They had all the evidence of how life would seemingly end. They ended their presentation with, "This is why we must ever allow Nuclear Reactors in the Puget Sound Region. Then they took questions. I simply asked them if they were aware that there were at least 10 nuclear reactors in the region which were routinely in operation, and that number of reactors had been in operation in the region for a few decades. Of course they had a strong reaction, laughed, and condescendingly told me how absurdly incorrect I was, until I revealed why they were wrong. Then they stopped laughing, but changed to "shore based reactors". You know, the old shift what you really meant to say game. When you live in a Carrier, or a Sub you are working, living, and sleeping all around reactors 24 hours a day. Fun fact, a modern shipboard reactor only burns the amount of fuel contained in two large paper clips in a 24 hour period when at full operation. The Army and Air Force also have had, and may still possibly have some reactors that they do interesting things with. We also have reactors down in the Antarctic, and who knows where else. There were previously many secret programs which used reactors. It's all on KZbin now.

[@jackreisewitz7219]

Very true. It's only the commercial nuclear POWER plants that ever get talked about, and are therefore the focus of all the anti nuclear attention. Not only are there military reactors flying under the radar of public attention, But there are research reactors out there, too, that never seem to get thought about.

[@braedenworden6694]

I appreciate your work simon. Nuclear waste is unpleasant stuff but it has to be dealt with and nuclear is by far the best source of energy

[@cdiesel0]

Simon, you should think about doing a video on The Villages, Florida. It is the largest retirement community in the world with about 140,000 residents and was built pretty much from scratch. Lots of impressive construction statistics.

[@davidhernandez741]

It’s on KZbin?

[@windfreak05]

Image at 15:19 is not Yucca Mountain, but rather the Calico Hills located NE of Yucca Mountain on north side of area 25. I worked on Yucca Mountain project for 16 years.

[@djdrack4681]

"Hey I dug this giant whole in this mountain, do you still want to use this?" Re: No, the politicians have mixed feelings as usual (about everything). "But like, I already dug this. Its a really fucking big whole, I even put lights in it" Re: Yeah we're just going to let the stuff we were going to store in it sit on a tarmac" [Rage starts build]

[@evantimm6053]

@Chedda Frumunda why Harry Reid? Why? It already is and there is now way it possibly can stop being anytime ever. It's covered in radioactive sites. That's like saying you want new York to stop being about finance, or LA to stop being about entertainment. Get on and get the job done

[@nomimalone7520]

@Chedda Frumunda repubs had a house and senate majority, and the white house. Its still not done. Politics are the problem, but blame lies on both sides.

[@Lowmanification]

​@@nomimalone7520 It is the simultaneously the greatest strength and weakness of Democracy that leaders are held accountable by an uneducated and fickle public. Still, the fact that this is even an issue is just disappointing. Compound it with the fact that it hasn't been officially cancelled, since doing so would also be a politically unpopular move, causing the US to have to pay almost half a billion $ per year and it is infuriating. If they aren't going to do anything with the project, just cancel it officially and stop burning money. In other words, politicians need to shit or get off the pot.

[@brycenmccrary4193]

@@Lowmanification and we need to stop signing agreements like this with companies. Jails shouldn’t have the right to charge for being less than full . Utilities shouldn’t have the right to charge us for their waste. How about not going into business unless you solve the problem

[@anydaynow01]

In the long run it will be cheaper to start funding research in breeder reactors again which will actually burn all this waste like mushrooms dine on poo. That way facilities like Yuka Mountain can be used to store just a few irradiated components and not the current fission waste, which like manure is still good. Plus I believe Yuka Mountain will happen once the feds decide they will pay Nevada the insane amount of money they are asking for to open it, after all the irrational NIMBY monster is enraged and entrenched by science and facts but tends to goes away once you start throwing cash at it.

[@MrBlueBurd0451]

NIMBYs gonna NIMBY: The story of the Yucca Mountain complex.

[@AinsleyHarriott1]

Phenis

[@iKvetch558]

Have you heard the new one? How NIMBY has gone BANANAs (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything)? LOL

[@evantimm6053]

@@iKvetch558 three words, Amazon New York

[@--enyo--]

It seems incredibly selfish.

[@TedSchoenling]

The problem is yucca mtn is NOBODY's back yard.. it is in the middle of freaking nowhere.

[@Chalky.]

Business Blaze Simon would have made a joke about Schact Asse.

[@hertzer2000]

I am thoroughly disappointed. I mean...Schact Asse....c'mon!

[@ethancntower8850]

Nuclear suppository!

[@jenniferbaldini3527]

"Heh, heh heh, heh...he said Schatte Asse..." ~Beavis

[@dannypope1860]

It’s INSANE that Yucca isn’t being used for safe storage. The nuclear waste is instead just sitting around in parking lots near nuclear facilities… it’s beyond foolish. JUST STORE IT ALREADY!!!

[@zakunknown9737]

4:24 I cant be the only one that giggled. Such a fitting name for storing waste.

[@choughed3072]

Did I just hear "shart arse mine"?

[@graphixkillzzz]

I thought it was shot ass mine lol

[@DannyHeywood]

Yeah, a few of us noticed. Must be the German sense of humour they are famous for.

[@hansvader4864]

@@DannyHeywood Its called "Schacht Asse" Schacht = shaft (like a mineshaft) Asse = the name of the hil ist located on We dont have a sense for humor.

[@martijndaem4074]

Idea for a Megaprojects video; the human genome project, a fascinating science project

[@Lowmanification]

It is a great story and transitions nicely into the ongoing ENCODE project to better understand the regulation of our genome.

[@TheTigrguy62]

CRISPR and all i demand it please thank you

[@Lowmanification]

@@TheTigrguy62 If you are going to do CRISPR, a history of gene editing going all the way back to Meganucleases would be great. Really show the advancement of the field and highlight the therapies which have been developed using these technologies.

[@gregorymalchuk272]

Also life extension technology and tissue regeneration.

[@jamesbarber5410]

This would probably be better on business blaze when you look into the reason behind the project.

[@warhawkjah]

Archeologists in 5,000 years: "Hey what's with these ancient drawings of stick figures and people screaming? Maybe it means the land is cursed. Lets dig deeper and find out..."

[@chrisyorke6175]

If some curious explorer goes digging around there in 5000 years time, ingests a lethal amount of radionuclides and dies, it hardly matters. Do we have no social issues more urgent and challenging to worry about? I think so.

[@Wag2112]

you'd think skull and cross bones would do the trick . Oh Wait, that's now a political issue , ya . or at least a social status symbol . .. ( scratching head ) Thanks Guys. . assholes

[@cliffcampbell8827]

Archeologists also found that there were no animals around and the trees were "humming."

[@veracious8205]

@@chrisyorke6175 trump living rent free in your dome?

[@derbness]

Rather: HAH stupid cavemen didnt even know how to reuse waste

[@frankgulla2335]

Nice job, analyzing and explaining the situation and what Yucca Mountain is

[@jasonwilde197]

The best film ever made regarding Nuclear Waste is "Into Eternity". It is all about Onkalo Waste Disposal Site. Really well done film.

[@vustvaleo8068]

I guess the Finnish people "Finnished" building their repository, hah!

[@globalautobahn1132]

Are you going to show yourself out, or should we? Lol

[@onnisonni1876]

Very clever!

[@David-lr2vi]

I see what you did there!

[@stimproid]

🤦‍♂️

[@merjamikkonen4991]

I am from Finland and actually that was kind of the idea here. If we’re going to use nuclear power here then we also have to store the waste ourselves here. We can’t just export it to any other countries.

[@jeeukko]

Simon: Hey world, take notes from Finland Me, a Finn: TORILLE :D

[@peregrine1993]

Starting my New Year right watching Megaprojects. Thanks Simon for all the work you do!

[@78250windu78250]

I love how you present the topics IE-Mega projects

[@InfoRanker]

We definitely need to use Yucca mountain for storage

[@curium9622]

As a german your misspronunciation of Schacht Asse II is the most hillarous thing ive heard in a long time

[@tylerphilpott5864]

@@sammarchant2703 as an arkansan I'm not really sure wat your talking about.

[@gregoryshorts1023]

@@sammarchant2703 And Nevada

[@4ndyr0g3r50n]

@@tylerphilpott5864 shart arse waste disposal

[@zporadik5651]

"Unless we find a miracle use for nuclear 'waste'..." All the people who work with Breeder Reactors: Am I a joke to you?

[@prinzeugenvansovoyen732]

us arms industry useing up depleted uranium like free beer putting it in every weapons design aviable spreading it all over the world am i a joke to you

[@NateofDrake]

@@prinzeugenvansovoyen732 That's not a megaproject. That's a million miniprojects.

[@guidokorber2866]

Yes, they are a joke to me. Working on the same concept for many decades without making any progress, except that the shit gets more and more costly.

[@jur4x]

@@guidokorber2866 Sounds like nuclear fusion - few decades ago it was just 10 years away, and today it is still some 10 years away

[@llaughton69]

@@jur4x more like 30 years away lol

[@MVHiltunen]

Maybe we could take your high level waste and store it into Onkalo, alongside our own. For a suitable price obviously.

[@erikraskADT1]

If people have issues just shipping the stuff on rails within the same country. I don't think they will react well to the idea of shipping it overseas half way across the planet.

[@MVHiltunen]

@@erikraskADT1 Dunno. I reckon most would appreciate the idea of packing it in shipping containers, and paying someone a wad of cash for never having to see or think about it again.

[@The_Texorcist]

Absolutely love the video, had a convo with a friend a month ago about the same issue and I basically have the same opinion. While nuclear isn’t a great power solution and it has its downsides it is at this moment the best option we have. So if we have to have it we need to deal with the waste. No one likes the “oh just bury it” approach but right now that is the best option. That doesn’t mean that after burying it we as a people shouldn’t continue to try to find a better method in a better way of disposal or repurposing it. People say burying it is like sticking our heads in the sand and pretending it doesn’t exist... what do you call blocking the storage and thus leaving no real option on disposal? To me that is burying ones head in the sand. The mountain work has stopped, the gov is paying out multi millions every year for not completing it and the waste is still piling up with NO alternative way of dealing with it.

[@sk1ppman]

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.” ― Theodore Roosevelt

[@jackfanning7952]

Step # 1 - stop digging - stop nuclear.

[@sk1ppman]

@@jackfanning7952 stop uranium based nuclear sure, but thorium is our best best for long term energy production.

[@jackfanning7952]

@@sk1ppman No. All nuclear reactors are no good. Never have been any good. Thorium was unworkable and too expensive in the 1960s and even more so now.

[@gingataisen]

@@jackfanning7952 👆🏼 We've found the nutjob.

[@Crimsonedge1]

Bad advice considering doing nothing IS doing something. Every time we were close to nuclear annihilation during the cold war, the reason it never tipped over the edge is because during the tensest times, the leaders of both sides always chose to do nothing. To wait and see what the enemy did rather than just acting. Because of that, no one took the first move of attack.

[@AcornElectron]

9.8 out of 10. Missing a certain “je ne sais blaze”

[@NorCalJuggalo420]

True culture 👌

[@reggiep75]

Blaze Whistler is overtaking the other Whistler's.. He'll possess and consume all of the other entities!

[@Doctors_TARDIS]

The really sad this is that almost all of our nuclear waste, over 90% of it, doesn't need to just be stored or sit around. It can be recycled back into usable fuel. But we choose not to. In fact you could power the United States grid for over 100 years if you simply recycled the spent fuel we have and created no more.

[@loganholmberg2295]

Yeah isn't that what France is doing? Its cost prohibitive but at least its not churning out carbon.

[@13_cmi]

America. That sounds like the best fuel anyone could imagine. So they’re basically creating waste that doesn’t exist? I live fairly close to a power plant and I always thought it would use all the fuel. But it basically burns a quarter tank of gas and dumps the rest out.

[@CarlosRodriguez-hb3vq]

10,000 years ago, Nevada was a lush grassland with giant lakes. Who’s to say that won’t happen again in the time spans involved with nuclear waste?

[@JimmySailor]

56 seconds in and we’re already off the rails.

[@dosgos]

Fun fact: nuclear waste is stored forever at your local nuclear plants. No disposal plans.

[@scowler92]

There are also reactors capable of running on waste now. They'll only get more efficient with time.

[@theairstig9164]

In England that is definitely true but it’s only worth securing for 100 years

[@wolfgangselle4307]

@P W ... yeah that’s the problem because with nuclear waste ...no country has a place to put it underground ... that’s why they the power plant operator got the permission to storage the nuclear waste on the side off the nuclear power plant until they have permanent place to put underground somewhere and sometimes. And of course there is a big opposition in the public . But we must deal with it and it must put somewhere safe and secure. And who knows when and where it will be ...

[@procatprocat9647]

@@theairstig9164 Nope, they design the LLW storage facilities such as BEPPS DIF for a minimum of 100 years, with facility to extend. ILW, HEILW and HLW are a different matter.

[@deerhawk7788]

​@@WSesq they use heavily reinforced transport containers that can be hit by a train and still survive.

[@minuteman360]

So early I haven't even experienced my first half life yet.

[@thomasfholland]

😂👍

[@MMalarky]

Half Life is a great series you should play it! Just dont expect an ending

[@tomtheplummer7322]

I’m past my half-life. It’s all downhill from here..

[@georgejones3526]

I'm just about solid lead.

[@georgejones3526]

@Raj Malarkey - Have you played Half-Life: Alyx yet? Of course it comes in the middle.

[@Kabup2]

Just dump all the waste near the Yucca, people will be scared of that s..., and will agree to bury it in the tunnels.

[@noth606]

The tunnels aren’t there for it yet because US politicians are idiots. Ours are not geniuses but they are not that stupid, I’m from Finland.

[@globalautobahn1132]

@@noth606 My Dad once told me “Smart people don’t go into politics”. I was a young teenager when he told me that and it becomes more and more true the more I witness.

[@ssllhh100]

@@globalautobahn1132 yep, they don't need to argue other people into submission, they just "get it"

[@lucromel]

@@noth606 Park the waste in front of their houses. "You don't want it in that mountain? Okay, here you go, put it wherever you want."

[@qjtvaddict]

@@globalautobahn1132 that’s why the world sucks

[@MaverickBlue42]

If we'd switch to thorium reactors we wouldn't have a waste issue(well, depending on the reactor type), but certain nations prefer reactors that have the capacity to produce weapons grade material.... Also, if we'd focus a bit more on breeder reactors, a lot of the existing waste could be reprocessed into less dangerous waste. Of course, nobody wants to build new nuclear power plants, even tho new plants would be safer than the very much aging designs we currently have, that keep having their lives extended well beyond their original engineered life span.

[@Suzanneyhearts]

I think the Alberta oil sands would be a really great topic! I'm from Calgary and have never lived or worked up north, so haven't had the chance to see a mine irl. They can be very large operations. And often the coverage of them gets polarized and branded dirty tar sands, or completely sanitized and used for O&G propaganda about 'canadian oil' or some shit. Rarely does the actual reality of the operations get shown or explained.

[@23rt2308u24tkhg]

Imagine a power generation method where we know the exact amount of the waste, it's current location and that it's doing nothing and harming no one. That would be nuclear.

[@TheStarBlack]

Lol. Exact for the people and wildlife in thousands of years that will be destroyed by the nuclear waste when it inevitably leaks. Humans can't even design buildings to last 100 years these days, how can anyone believe we can guarantee a nuclear waste site for 100,000 years. Its called ignoring the risks for a quick buck, which is the entire history of capitalism in one sentence.

[@BassGoThump]

@@TheStarBlack Nobody lives underground in the desert. Where do you think the material came from. It came from the ground.

[@jamesneilsongrahamloveinth1301]

@@TheStarBlack: Nice present we are giving to our children, and our children's children, and our children's children's children and . . . well, just look after our our high level nuclear waste for us please, will you? Not a big deal. Nice stuff really. We don't know who you are, we've never met you, you aren't even born yet, but we're sure you'll love to do this, that you'll have the money to do it, that you'll live in a stable society and be able to sort out any little problems that may occur along the way . . . There's quite a lot of it about, yes, I know, hanging around nuclear power stations and other places but the thing is we can't quite work out what to do with it. I mean we've got the general idea. We want to bury it. We know we want to bury it, but the science is rather tricky (we're not sure we can predict geological movements over millennia) and the politics too (curiously, no one seems to want a dump in their own backyard) and we just aren't very good at taking decisions. So, my dears, it's over to you! Thanks so much . . . !

[@uptowndunker6346]

@@WSesq your comprehensive skills are ass, do you really think the person ment as “safe”ment leave it open for birds and grass eaters to come swim in it. You dont even sound like you know about nuclear energy or its products.

[@Dudewheresmycar189]

@@TheStarBlack yeah this is no longer a issue. Nuclear waste is no longer thing really. All the old waste is being gobbled up and done away with by the “new” suppressed technology.

[@jacksonalden]

As a Nevadan, let’s take it. It will finally get us off reliance on the Casino industry

[@chuckd5877]

How?????

[@tomw6947]

@@chuckd5877 well navarda would charge the U.S government alot of money for storing it there by taking the contract.

[@tomw6947]

@Jeffro Neemo 🤡

[@tomw6947]

@Jeffro Neemo 🤡🤡

[@tomw6947]

@Jeffro Neemo Says the Karen who thinks Yuccs would only provide 30 permanent jobs, what about the billions in the storage contract. 😂 🤡🤡🤡

[@carlstanland5333]

I thought America’s nuclear dump was after Taco Bell. Allegedly.

[@Karagoth444]

No that's what happens after you eat there. Allegedly.

[@jayyyzeee6409]

Taco Bell gets a lot of unfair jokes. It's not even real Mexican food, it's like it's own unique food category, but I like Taco Bell!

[@Hobbes4ever]

I am glad I don't eat tacos :D

[@drewrubtheMando]

No, Americas toxic nuclear waste dump in D.C.

[@nomimalone7520]

Mmmm. Taco bell is delicious.

[@JumperSig]

I helped build the sleds for the containers. All fabricated with two miles of welds and twenty miles of paperwork. That is the term we used. It is a lot of detailed work.

[@MyBelch]

After the Chernobyl disaster, the other three reactors continued operating until Dec 15, 2000. The threat of nuclear waste is way overblown.

[@eazy-333]

Go live there then 😂

[@sidguernsey1393]

When you say the greatest nuclear disasters aren't associated with storage are you forgetting your video on Lake Karachay, that went so well :-)

[@alexander1485]

He needs to make a new channel called "microscopic projects"

[@xylisisvarlett3734]

When Simon started about the fact that there are messages to future civilizations on nuclear waste... thats really crazy

[@julesdingle]

one idea was to genetically engineer cats that would glow green near radiation..and their wild offspring would be some spooky warning of not going near them.

[@thomasewing2656]

We won't be here after 2200, so why worry?

[@shebbs1]

@@thomasewing2656 Based on what? Al Gore's doomsday preaching?

[@Jim54_]

Our rejection of nuclear power was a massive mistake, and the environment has payed dearly for it as we continue to rely on fossil fuels for our electricity

[@bengee1040]

It's unfortunate that this "waste" isn't being reused. Under the Gates foundation, one of their investments have developed a fission reactor that uses these "spent waste" to produce energy. I also remember reading an article a few years back about a team of MIT researchers that were in early stages of developing a reactor that utilizes spent nuclear waste. The unfortunate part is that the Fukushima nuclear disaster put a complete damper on communities that could use such a reactor.

[@kestaskuliukas5296]

It'll get reused eventually, once it becomes economical, but that won't be for a long time while we've got U235 "rich" ore

[@RJM1011]

The one Finland has built is amazing ! !

[@petercole2339]

There's a 3 reactor plant about 15 minutes from my house in South Carolina..Oconee Nuclear Station... One of the safest in the country and one of the oldest..

[@KelticTim]

Hey! I’m in Seneca! We have what, 2 or 3 nuke sites here in SC, and down in Richland they just tried building another one

[@KelticTim]

When I lived down in Columbia I used to love going fishing at Lake Marion, not only do you get to see gators, but you get to fish next to signs declaring that if you go any further you’ll be on the Nuke companies land and could be shot. Pretty cool.

[@petercole2339]

@@KelticTim Oconee nuke is impenetrable after 9/11..it's on lake keowee and they even have a couple of patrol boats to keep people from fishing near the intakes..it's a beautiful area up where the plant is and super expensive homes too..

[@petercole2339]

@@KelticTim I'm actually in Clemson and have lived here 20 years now.

[@KelticTim]

@@petercole2339 oh I’m well aware of where it is, fishing is just about the last hobby/vice my kids have allowed. I’ve been all up and down Keowee and Hartwell. South Cove County park may be my fav spot, they have amazing tent sites right on the water.

[@themilkman1021]

Yo Simon I know that people can recommend video ideas so can u please do a mega project on the nuclear planes

[@dertythegrower]

Also, the leaking water cooling canals at Nuclear plant in Miami Florida.. leaking nuclear isotopes into the Atlantic ocean and our drinking water for centuries

[@graphixkillzzz]

@@dertythegrower really? for centuries? 👀😳

[@chesspiece81]

@@dertythegrower for centuries? A nuclear plant has been leaking isotopes into our water for centuries?

[@dertythegrower]

@@chesspiece81 I said the water is ruined for centuries... you should learn the facts, it is in Miami Herald and NyTimes.. 1 or 2 small reports. Because nuclear power monopoly in florida, FPL corp, are corporations that sue newspapers to hide facts...

[@dertythegrower]

@@graphixkillzzz Please share this report.. Millions of kids are dying by this.. it is fact and the news under reports. I lived 2 miles from one and millions of people drink water within 1 hour drive of thrse 2 plants... (Lawsuit: FPL power plant cause of boy’s cancer)

[@MasterFeiFongWong]

This may be off topic, but I think someone might find it interesting. :) Device to end the creation of Nuclear waist. Step 1: calculate how much energy you need pumped into the motor to make a vertically positioned circular platter with magnets in-bedded horizontally around it's left side and right side so there pushing force is pushing out sideways relative to the vertically spinning disc to spin fast. :D Step 2: Calculate how many sets of copper coils you need to be interacting with magnetic fields to achieve this & to perpetuate more electrical current flow then is needed. :D Step 3: Build a round horizontally positioned platter covered in all these copper coils pointed down that does not move (Is stationary) :D Step 4: build a round platter covered in powerful magnets pointed up that can spin and place it directly under platter with hanging copper coils. :D Step 5: Position the vertical platter that is motorized close to the horizontally positioned platter covered in magnets pointing up so that when the vertically positioned platter spins the in-bedded horizontally positioned magnetic fields slam sideways against the edge of the horizontally positioned platter causing it to spin. :) Step 6: Make sure enough of the copper coils are feeding their electrical current into the motor and the rest of the copper coils are linked into a set of rechargeable Battery's placed right next to the motor spinning the one vertically positioned disc. Step 7: Build a duplicate setup of horizontally positioned discs with hanging copper coils and disc with upwards facing magnets and position it to the front right, the back left and the back right of the vertically positioned motorized disc. As the vertically positioned motorized disc spins the horizontally in-beaded magnets will now hit into all 4 horizontally positioned discs causing them to spin. so you will effectively be using the spin of one disc powered by one motor to spin 4 constructs that are each generating electrical current. now build this whole setup multiple times over and use the current perpetuated by it to power up scaled electromagnetic generators that are equal to or more powerful than the ones used in a nuclear power plant. You will now have a device that is self perpetuating off of it's own electrical current perpetuation and no nuclear waist to worry about.

[@joshuaborders4781]

The transition rock music at the beginning sounds similar to the one from That 70's Show.

[@elimeissner3357]

You best speak about the nuclear dump in St. Louis, the one where they dumped the trinity bomb waste, THE ONE THATS ON FUCKING FIRE

[@scowler92]

WHAT!?!

[@elimeissner3357]

@@scowler92 damn straight

[@scowler92]

@@elimeissner3357 Details?

[@procatprocat9647]

Bullshit. Prove it.

[@suttonssuperstars7679]

Schaht Arse... seems like a British issue after a helping of bad fish and chips..

[@etonbachs4226]

Sounds like an American issue after eating Taco Bell. there's no r in the ass so it's not British. LOL

[@procatprocat9647]

Nope, it's definitely an american issue. Enjoy paying your taxes to the energy companies as fines !

[@suttonssuperstars7679]

@@etonbachs4226 yes. Taco Bell is the worst.. I fixed arse.

[@nagasako7]

Public: Nuclear Waste in Yucca Mountain? (Drake saying no meme) Also Public: Nuclear Waste sitting in at their local power station parking lot (Drake noding yes)

[@holyngrace7806]

Definitely interesting, thank you. Will you be considering a related episode on what, presuming there are some, lines of research are being carried out to repurpose/tranform/reclaim/recycle/reuse nuclear waste?

[@IbnShahid]

The Finnish nuclear waste repository looks like something from the Resident Evil franchise.

[@simonbeaird7436]

12:20: I've known two or three Finns in my lifetime and they all had one characteristic in common. Present them with a problem and they would immediately set about finding a solution. They just don't give up! Not surprising they have managed to achieve something the USA has been arguing about for years.

[@ADRIAAN1007]

Everyone talks about how it takes millions of years to decay to nothing, but none mention that high level waste the most dangerous type decays to one ten thousands of the radioactive level compared to when it was originally stored after 40 years. Here is my source: www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-wastes/radioactive-wastes-myths-and-realities.aspx

[@d4mdcykey]

I think it's safe to say (pun intended) that your source is not only biased to their own agenda, they have a history of erroneous claims going back decades.

[@anthonybarker9123]

@@d4mdcykey Except that is EXACTLY how it works. The "stronger" the radioactive material is the shorter its half-life is (typically).

[@stevenlester9679]

@@d4mdcykey Assuming radiation level means “activity”, a ten thousandth of the original activity in 40 years sounds very reasonable, so they’re probably not wrong there. Some common fission products like cesium-137 and iodine-131 will be mostly gone after 40 years (Cs-137 has a half life of ~30 years and I-131 has a half life of ~8 days and will essentially not exist). After 40 years a lot of the heavily radioactive isotopes would be reduced to relatively small amounts, whereas many of the really long-lived isotopes have such a low activity that radiation from them is relatively negligible. A real concern is that even with the stable isotopes, your body REALLY doesn’t like absorbing them (think how much your body loves to absorb lead), so groundwater poisoning from the fission products leaking out is a much greater concern than radiation.

[@fulldnbboy]

@@d4mdcykey well, here is an example for you, DU aka depleted uranium, which mostly is uranium 238,which half life is around 4.5 billion years, and we use it in civil and military applications every day with neglible effects. But if we used something like cesium 137,all hell would break loose. This is why chernobyl can now be relatively easily cleaned up cause it was radioactive with its peak in the first 14 days after which radioactivity went drastically down. Radioactivity works on exponential reduction curve, proven fact, simple google will tell you that.

[@wwoods66]

@@stevenlester9679 Before you say an isotope "will not exist", you want to go about ten half-lives, reducing the quantity from tons to kilograms. For Cs-137 and Sr-90, that'd be about 300 years.

[@nightgoblinspearman]

Weird when people from other countries talk about the 2007 economic collapse in America when most Americans didn't even register it taking place

[@dereksimpson1284]

I sure as fuck did

[@dereksimpson1284]

Yes

[@procatprocat9647]

Americans caused a Global economic collapse, but it's not surprising that they didn't notice.

[@mikegeorge1988]

The keynote speaker at my university graduation was an argeologist who discussed how to label nuclear waste etc. Was very interesting

[@jtsaunders]

RAIL GUNS! (Bae Systems) plus in doing this you get to show super cool slo mo footage ; ) and thanks if you saw my suggestion to look at this waste repository topic, good one

[@scottmoore6131]

Sounds like he’s talking about puppies “that need a home!” Lmfao!!!

[@heckinmemes6430]

"Let's just take this stuff, and PUSH IT OVER THERE."

[@5t4n5]

One person's "THERE" is another person's "HERE". Best idea... let's build more nuclear power stations while we argue about it.

[@anydaynow01]

@@5t4n5 Yes let's do that just like we did with automobiles. We didn't stop making them because hundreds of thousands of people will being killed a year and untold amounts of money thrown to the wind, we made better safer cars. Let's build small modular fission power stations that are more efficient with their fuel and go longer and longer between refueling cycles, and shut themselves down and cool down with no human action. Simultaneously start building breeder reactors which burn the spent fuel from older fission plants, that's how you make the waste stream practically disappear not store it in a mountain. Then there are traveling wave fission plants and thorium based fuel cycles which burn their own waste, the possibilities are endless!

[@samwise1790]

@@5t4n5 nobody's 'here' is yucca mountain. It's on the nevada weapons test site owned by the federal govt (like much of Nevada) and nobody is ever going to be allowed in or around it who isn't working on it. That's one of many reasons it's a good site location. Ever been around or in the NTS? I have, to do geological research, there isn't fuck all for 10s to 100s of miles around (except fencing and signs that warn its a test range and you'll be arrested or shot for trespassing).

[@skookapalooza2016]

The best answer for Yucca Mountain: Where else should we put it???

[@YoSuey]

Awh, this why the Muto attacked Las Vegas in Godzilla.

[@teemumuukkonen9765]

While you have your eyes set on nuclear power projects, here is a suggestion for another video: the project on unit 3 of Olkiluoto power plant, or then all of the EPR type reactors currently being built all over the world.

[@cnaisbitt5013]

Every nevadan is going to be commenting. "It's nevAda,. Not nevoda"

[@bjkarana]

I've seen the light after moving here in 2014. NevAda.

[@robertwalker-smith2739]

I've read several science fiction stories about humans in the far future interacting with ancient nuclear waste depositories. Hilarity rarely ensues.

[@nathandamaren2093]

Ooh gimi the names of these stories. I love good sci fi novels, especially those that have a slight basis in reality.

[@robertwalker-smith2739]

Wish I could. This was back in the XXth century.

[@Sphere723]

Several years ago we unearthed the remains of an old natural nuclear reactor in an African uranium mine. Nobody cared.

[@robertwalker-smith2739]

@@Sphere723 , back in the Usenet era, someone wrote an Alternate History description of how that might have affected the development of human civilization if it had still been active when humans first occupied the area. Plus: a source of free heat for domestic and industrial applications. Minus: radiation poisoning.

[@Sphere723]

@@robertwalker-smith2739 The miners were only able to detect it because the ratio of U-235 (the radioactive isotope) was lower than natural uranium deposits. It had been used up in the reactor. It was literally less radioactive than normal uranium. Not very exciting, but true. That's what people don't get, reactors reduce the total radioactive material on earth, not increase it. The problems come from the concentration of U-235 and trace amounts of the short lived but highly radioactive trans-uraninics in the spent fuel.

[@datbouldrawlinun8183]

Square space is annoying

[@aldrinmilespartosa1578]

I would rather put a dangerous waste under a hill than to put a less dangerous one in the air