this post was submitted on 14 May 2025
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[–] remon@ani.social 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Pumped hydroelectric storage exists

Only if you have a mountain nearby, which not all places have.

What about the storage options for nuclear waste?

We have those.

[–] torrentialgrain@lemm.ee -5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Not really, you can build hydroelectric storage facilities.

The nuclear storage facilities here in Germany are already being shut down because they’re in danger of leaking into the groundwater.

[–] remon@ani.social 9 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Not really, you can build hydroelectric storage facilities.

Sure you can, but they don't work very well without elevation...

The nuclear storage facilities here in Germany are already being shut down because they’re in danger of leaking into the groundwater.

Yes, Germany is quite bad at managing theirs, but that's more of a political problem than a technical one.

[–] torrentialgrain@lemm.ee 6 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I’d be interested in the economics of building an artificial hydroelectric storage facility over those of building and running a mine for storing nuclear waste.

Germany is not the only country that’s having problems with permanent waste storage. Most countries have not even started dealing with this issue and are still using interim storage solutions.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Most countries have not even started dealing with this issue and are still using interim storage solutions.

because there's so little of it. a single plant generates about a truckload a year (20-30 tons) of spent fuel. fossil plants burn hundreds of tons of fuel per day.

personally, i've always thought that as long as it's radioactive, there's untapped energy in there, so the best way to get rid of the waste is to build better reactors that can actually use it up.

[–] Eheran@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

There are actually such reactors! There are amazing technologies, but the political issues around developing nuclear tech pretty much made the EU stuck in 1970s tech. China recently started the first gen 4 reactor!

[–] SARGE@startrek.website 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

generates about a truckload a year (20-30 tons) of spent fuel

Is that spent fuel or just waste in general? I have seen "20 tons" used for both here and there, and there's a big difference between them IMO.

Fuel is much more dangerous than, say, a piece of equipment that was exposed to something, but both will be stored as "nuclear waste". Not that I'm saying the equipment is "safe" but the likelihood of a disaster occurring because a barrel of irradiated equipment busted open vs a barrel of spent fuel....

[–] lime@feddit.nu 1 points 1 month ago

that's specifically fuel, according to the source i read. highly radioactive waste.

[–] remon@ani.social 5 points 1 month ago

I’d be interested in the economics of building an artificial hydroelectric storage facility over those of building and running a mine for storing nuclear waste.

I think that would be pretty one-sided. You need very few nuclear waste storage sites because the volumne if waste is very low.

On the other hand you need a lot of hydroelectric storage facilities. And without any natural elevated reservoir, I really don't see how it would be viable at all.

Germany is not the only country that’s having problems with permanent waste storage. Most countries have not even started dealing with this issue and are still using interim storage solutions.

It seems to be the country with the most drama around it, though. The interim solutions are good enough for now.