em of nuclear waste is discussed. This discussion is followed by a consideration of the cause of the problem.
Nuclear energy was first created by nature; not by humans. Two billion years ago, a uranium ore deposit at Oklo, Gabon in Africa created a chain reaction that went on underground for hundreds of thousands of years before dissipating. Radioactive waste generated in the process was trapped within the ore deposit. This act of nature also created "a safe way to contain nuclear wastes for millions of years" (Wicks & Bickford, 1989, p. 50). In the waning years of the twentieth century, however, humans are creating far more nuclear energy than is nature. Humans, however, have not yet developed a safe way to contain the resulting waste over the long-term.
Radioactive nuclear waste exists in two basic forms·spent solid fuel rods from commercial nuclear reactors and liquid radioactive waste generated in the reclaiming of spent nuclear fuel rods used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons. At present, most of this liquid waste is being stored in large tanks below ground level. Many of these tanks, however, are more than 30 years old, and some of these tanks have leaked. Although newer tanks have more layers of protection and better monitoring equipment, such tanks continue to be designed only for temporary, short-term storage. The long-term storage issue remains a critical and unresolved issue (Hileman, 1996, pp. 14-20).
In the United States, there exists a growing stockpile of spent fuel rods from commercial reactors that must be safely stored. Additionally, there are approximately 100 million gallons of liquid "high-level waste" that must be contained. Almost all of this liquid waste comes from Department of Energy plants that reclaim radioactive elements from the spent fuel rods of defense reactors to manufacture materials for nuclear weapons. This liquid waste contains more than one billion curies of radioactivi...