Why Doesn't U.S. Recycle Nuclear Fuel?

Post written byWilliam F. Shughart II (as Opinion at Forbes.com)

Research director of The Independent Institute in Oakland, California.

The chattering class’s call for action on “climate change” overlooks a crucial point: to succeed, we need to increase reliance on nuclear power, the cleanest technology available, despite the vocal opposition from those who fear another Three-Mile Island or a more-serious disaster like Chernobyl or Fukushima.

Compared to electric generating plants fueled by coal and other fossil fuels, nuclear plants have a very light “carbon footprint.” Current public policy, however, favors solar, wind and other “green” energy sources, largely because used nuclear fuel remains radioactive, and policy-makers can’t decide what to do with it.

What we ought to do is what other countries do: recycle it. Doing so would provide a huge amount of zero-carbon energy that would help us reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

Read more...