committee that studied the risks of internal radiation. ‘Spent fuel contains fission products, such as caesium and strontium, which have half lives [the length of time it takes for half of the atoms in a given amount of a substance to decay] of 30 years. You need to keep them out of the environment for at least 300 years. It also contains a whole range of activation products – uranium, plutonium, americium, curium. Some of these will remain active for millions of years. So it’s my contention that the dangers of exposure to radioactive waste are such that we should be looking for safer means of generating electricity.’

Given the dangers that Fairlie outlines, it may come as a surprise to learn that, across the planet, there is no long-term, final deep geological disposal site for high-level waste. This waste, which encompasses both spent fuel and reprocessing wastes, represents around three per cent of all nuclear waste by volume but about 98 per cent of its radioactivity. ‘What nuclear power hasn’t done is solve its waste issue,’ says Mike Childs, head of climate change at Friends of the Earth. ‘Any industry that produces radioactive waste that lasts for thousands of years and doesn’t know what to do with it is pushing it to call itself clean.’

Each year, 7,000 cubic metres of high-level waste are typically produced in the EU alone. According to the WNA, high-level waste is increasing by about 12,000 tonnes worldwide every year, which is the equivalent of a twostorey structure built on a basketball court. ‘Interim storages are no long-term solution as they need continuous maintenance and oversight,’ says a European Commission spokeswoman. ‘As they are typically close to or on the surface, there is, in addition, a risk of accidents, including airplane crashes, fires or earthquakes.’

we get the benefits. There is surely an ethical question about this.’

Fairlie also points to nuclear’s current place in the wider energy mix – around 16 per cent of UK electricity, which, in turn, is around 20 per cent of all energy production. ‘There comes a point when you think of the relatively small

Above: protesters block the road to Germany’s interim nuclear waste storage facility in Gorleben; Below right: a memorial dedicated to firefighters killed by the Chernobyl disaster nuclear electricity generation by country

Since last autumn, EU states have been legally obliged to identify disposal facilities; the first is supposed to be operational by 2025, although the appetite to achieve this remains uncertain. ‘It has been a particularly unedifying experience watching the industry attempt to secure a final depository,’ says Ayliffe. ‘The one area in the UK that has been identified as suitable is in the Lake District National Park – there’s just a possibility that walkers, locals and tourists will object to that.’

1000

,2008

800

800

kWh illion

,b

600

600

generation

Fairlie and other scientists feel deeply uneasy about the entire process, and question whether nuclear waste can be stored safely in perpetuity. ‘We just don’t know,’ says Fairlie. ‘Humanity’s recorded history goes back perhaps 8,000 years, but the half lives of these radioactive constituents are often much longer than that. We will give this serious problem to our children and future generations for which lec tricity

400

400

Nucleare

200

200

0

Sixteen countries depend on nuclear power for at least a quarter of their electricity. The USA’s 809 billion kilowatt hours from nuclear accounts for 20 per cent of its electricity needs. France derived more than three quarters of its electricity from nuclear

The world’s nuclear reactors, October 2009

Operational Combined operational, proposed, planned and under construction

898

436

USA

France

Japan

Russia

Korea

S

Germany

Canada ine

Ukra ina

Ch

Sweden in

Spa

UK

ium lg

Be itzerland

Sw

Rep

Czech land in

F

ia lovak

S

lgaria

Bu

Hungar y

Brazil ia

Ind frica

ASouth ico

Mex ia

Lithuan ia

Roman

Argentina ia loven

S

Netherlands ia

Armen istan

Pak

SOURCE: World Nuclear Association

46 www.geographical.co.uk february 2011