Many thanks for Jim Camden’s column (“ ‘Modular’ nuclear plants studied,” The Columbian, Aug. 7). I certainly agree that we should think twice before we buy the rosy picture that small modular nuclear reactors can solve all our energy problems.
What are they anyway? Basically, they’re very scaled-down nuclear reactors. Their fuel and waste products are slightly different from their larger cousins, but the by-products are no less deadly or shorter-lived. By making them smaller, the hope is they can be tailored to a particular location better and possibly located closer.
Energy Northwest, Washington’s only nuclear power plant, is located on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation upriver from Vancouver. It does not have a plan to dispose of waste safely. Currently their radioactive waste is stored in huge canisters on site until a national depository can be developed. Unfortunately, none is on the horizon, so this dangerous waste will remain in an earthquake zone close to the very important Columbia River indefinitely.
Increasing nuclear power production when we don’t have a way to dispose of the waste safely is short-sighted at best. We should put this technology on hold and work on real solutions to the very real problem of climate change.
