Sweden Has a Plan: Nuclear Waste Disposal

I've long felt that the U.S. should move quickly to build more nuclear power plants. The problem, of course, is what to do with the dangerous waste. In Nuclear waste: the Swedish Example , LA Times blogger Margot Roosevelt points to the Sweden's (it gets 50% of its power from nuclear sources) success in dealing with this isuue. She says that the Nuclear Fuel & Waste Management Co (a private business, by the way ) developed their plan over the last 15 years and involves burying the spent material in crystalline bedrock. But the key to the solution was the careful planning. According to Roosevelt, Claes Thegerstrom, who is chief executive of the company, said

the national government in Sweden, once it enacted a law allowing a repository, maintained a hands-off policy as to its location, allowing industry to make the decision, in consultation with local government. "In Sweden, the industry is responsible," he said. "But in the U.S. the industry is absent from the nuclear waste discussion. That seems very strange."

Well, I know of at least one U.S. company that's been involved in the issue. Louisiana Energy Services proposed using the abandoned and unfinished TVA nuclear plan in Hartsville, TN, as a nuclear waste depository. They failed because rabid environmental groups stirred fears in the community and rallied liberal TN politicians to their cause. The same or similar groups had put a stop to the construction of the Hartsville plant back in the early 80's.

When will we learn that these "so called" activists are bringing U.S. growth and development to a halt. Here's a pic I found of the Hartsville plant, abandoned after over a billion dollars were spent on its construction.