In what can be said the biggest acknowledgment of the dangers of Nuclear Energy, the EPA is considering regulations for nuclear waste for the next 1 million years.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is preparing to issue a regulation that will govern the disposal of power plant nuclear waste in the United States for the next 1 million years. “This will be the only rule that applies for such a long duration into the future,” said Elizabeth Cotsworth, the EPA director of radiation and indoor air, in an interview with National Public Radio. “Most EPA rules apply for the foreseeable future — five or six generations. This rule is for basically 25,000 generations.”
Opponents of the Yucca Mountain plan countered with a lawsuit, arguing that the 10,000-year regulation did not extend far enough into the future. The courts agreed, so the EPA extended the regulation to 1 million years—100 times longer than the period covered by the original regulation.
Increasing concerns about the acceleration of global warming have helped to renew interest in nuclear power generation—even among some environmentalists—a development that has also raised new concerns about the best way to dispose of nuclear waste that can remain toxic for 100,000 years or more.
Even as the US EPA is considering this, Westinghouse won a deal to estimated at USD 8 Billion to build China’s new nuclear plants. Just considering the need for a regulation like this puts the risk of nuclear energy far higher than anything else.
