As some governments press on with new nuclear installations to address climate change, a multi-billion dollar industry will be needed to make safe old power plants and their hazardous waste. The market for decommissioning nuclear sites is unbelievably large. Sixteen nations in Europe alone face a €253 billion waste bill, and the continent has only just begun to tackle the problem. In total, there are 200 reactors worldwide due to be shut down by 2025. But while the primary task of the current decommissioning programme is to make reactors safe by removing their old fuel and storing it, one of the major problems of the industry is nowhere near solved. All over the world, governments have tried and failed to find sites where they can store the vast quantities of radioactive waste that has arisen from nuclear weapons programmes, nuclear submarine and ship propulsion systems, and the civil nuclear industry. The waste needs to be isolated from human beings for as much as 250,000 years to make it safe.
Climate News Network 18th April 2016 read more »
Decommissioned nuclear power plant Sellafield has teamed up with Lasersnake 2, a flexible, snake-arm robot which can navigate through small spaces to inspect, fasten, clean and laser cut material.
New Civil Engineer 18th April 2016 read more »