Operated from 1972 to 1996 and produced 119 billion kilowatt hours of energy

Dry cask storage is a method for safely storing spent nuclear fuel after it has cooled for several years in water pools. Once the fuel rods are no longer producing extreme heat, they are sealed inside massive steel and concrete casks that provide both radiation shielding and passive cooling through natural air circulation—no water is needed. Each cask can weigh over 100 tons and is engineered to resist earthquakes, floods, fire, and even missile strikes. This makes it a robust interim solution until permanent deep geological repositories are available. The casks are expected to last 50–100 years, though the fuel inside remains radioactive for thousands. Dry cask storage reduces reliance on crowded spent fuel pools, provides a secure above-ground option, and buys time for nations to develop long-term disposal strategies. In essence, it’s a durable, self-contained “vault” for nuclear waste

    • TranscendentalEmpire@lemmy.today
      1·
      4 days ago

      The main problem with solar at a large scale is that it has large variables in base load power. Meaning it’s efficiency is dependent on things like weather and time of day.

      The theoretical solution to this is battery storage… However, battery tech at a scale large enough to make solar a viable solution for our immediate power needs is doubtful with our current technology and resources.

      Batteries are also a consumable resource that require rare earth elements currently being mined by the modern equivalent of serfs.

        • ghen@sh.itjust.works
          1·
          5 days ago

          This has absolutely nothing to do with profit, if nuclear became ubiquitous then it wouldn’t be very profitable either. I’m also saying that we can do as much solar as we want and it’s still not good enough. So please, do more solar but don’t stand in the way of nuclear while you’re adding solar.