Recycling Spent Nuclear Fuel Rods Being Proposed In US (Video)

Article posted with permission from the author, Suzanne Hamner

If you didn’t read the five-part series at The Sons of Liberty Media on nuclear power and waste, you can do so here, here, here, here, and here. It is important for readers to understand the problem with nuclear waste in order to understand what is being considered in the united States. Granted, it is a lot of information. However, to make things easier, it is important to understand nuclear waste “recycling”.

Ed McGinnis, former assistant secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy has floated the idea of spent nuclear fuel (waste) recycling to the Joint Natural Resources and & Environment committee. According to McGinnis, recycling spent nuclear fuel in the united States would “dramatically reduce waste, increase energy security, and create high-paying jobs”.

McGinnis is also the CEO of Curio, a nuclear technology firm, and has partnered with major U.S. utilities to explore the feasibility of recycling the massive stockpile of spent nuclear fuel currently sitting in storage.

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According to McGinnis, this process could reduce waste volumes to just 3% to 4% of the original material while extracting valuable resources.

It sounds really good – reducing nuclear waste volume to 3% to 4% of the original material. However, the amount McGinnis reports is not exactly accurate.

In the documentary by ENDEVR, readers can see the entire process involved in recycling of spent nuclear fuel by France. Begin watching at the 43:20 mark to the end to understand where this 3% to 4% figure is obtained. It is deceiving.

Remember, the plutonium “recovered” from the recycling process is weapons-grade. And, in actuality, only 10% of the spent nuclear fuel recycled is actually used. The remainder is stored as waste. Moreover, the MOX fuel produced in the process is “non-recyclable”. In other words, recycling spent nuclear fuel (waste) is not a solution to the continued generation of nuclear waste through nuclear energy production. And, there are few facilities in the world that “recycle” spent nuclear fuel. France’s recycling process has “reprocessed” spent nuclear fuel traveling 8000 kilometers (4970.9 miles). 80% of that uranium is left stored in Tomsk -7 in Russia. Moreover, the plant at La Hague, France releases “legally” radioactive gases and Krypton-85 into the air and additional radioactive waste into the English Channel.

This is what McGinnis hopes to bring to the united States.

Curio hopes to help revive America’s nuclear energy capacity with its recycling process. By reprocessing spent uranium fuel, the company can extract plutonium, which McGinnis touts as a superior energy source due to its higher power density and reduced weight requirements.

“You can get a reactor that’s a third the size of a uranium-based reactor,” McGinnis said, adding that without recycling, plutonium remains locked within spent fuel and inaccessible for future energy production. [Emphasis Mine]

Where is the evidence for the statement by McGinnis? Remember, this plutonium is “weapons grade”. Alison MacFarlane, former chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, indicated the US government viewed the purified plutonium created from this “recycling” of spent nuclear fuel as “terrifying” so postponed this process indefinitely. The US government saw this recycling as a grave threat in terms of nuclear weapon proliferation.

Most readers are aware of how spent nuclear fuel rods are stored in the united States as that was covered in the five-part series at The Sons of Liberty Media. According to Just the News, this process was meant to be ”temporary until the federal government retrieved the waste — a process that was supposed to start in 1997 but never materialized.”

Curio aims to change the current process by recycling spent fuel, extracting valuable materials, and reducing waste to just 3% to 4% of its original volume, which McGinnis says the federal government could handle much easier.

While McGinnis acknowledged that federal regulations remain a challenge, he added that there is “a lane to go forward” and are already working with utilities.

The main hurdles are state and local approvals, as well as public communication to ensure communities understand the benefits.

“This is not your grandfather’s reactor,” McGinnis said. “These are state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly, and economically robust solutions.”

McGinnis wants to make sure communities understand the “benefits”, but never mentions the risk. That is how it has been with anything nuclear – hear all the benefits while the risks are minimized, hidden, or never discussed. McGinnis bases all of this on the lie that nuclear fuel waste can be reduced too 3% to 4% of original volume. The documentary from ENDEVR indicates this is not true. Moreover, the La Hague “reprocessing” plant is not environmentally friendly. Remember, McGinnis is proposing to use purified plutonium (weapons grade) as fuel in these nuclear reactors. More than likely, it will be MOX fuel, which is NOT recyclable and must still be stored as waste.

So, roughly 80% of France’s uranium is left abandoned at a site in Russia. The MOX fuel produced is not recyclable and has to be stored just like waste is currently stored now from spent nuclear fuel rods. Reprocessing this spent nuclear fuel releases radioactive gases and Krypton-85 into the atmosphere where it is carried on the wind all over where people live. And, radioactive waste water is dumped into the waterways. This is contamination on a grand scale that no one discusses. All the people ever hear is the lies.

Curio’s proposed facilities, expected to be operational within five to seven years, are projected to generate over 3,000 jobs, the majority of which will be trade-based positions with salaries ranging from $80,000 to $140,000 per year.

“These are generational jobs,” McGinnis emphasized.

The facility is estimated to generate more than $400 million annually in direct tax revenue, further contributing to local economies. Notably, Curio has pledged not to seek Louisiana’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program, a tax exemption offered to most large-scale industrial projects.

Beyond job creation and waste reduction, McGinnis highlights Curio’s partnerships with four national laboratories and industry leaders such as Orano, the world’s largest nuclear recycler.

Orano, which operates major recycling facilities in France, has designated Curio as its lead recycling partner in the U.S.

You can read more about Orano here. You will recall that Orano stated only 10% of the electricity in France is produced using MOX fuel. Is that enough benefit to outweigh risk and environmental contamination from “recycling” spent nuclear fuel rods?

According to Just the News:

The U.S. is largely reliant on foreign-supplied nuclear fuel, with major sources including Russia, Canada and Kazakhstan, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

EIA notes that the U.S. has nuclear fuel production capacity insufficient for domestic needs, with domestic mining now accounting for about 5% of the fuel used in U.S. reactors.

Louisiana, home to one of the nation’s largest and oldest nuclear fleets, stands to benefit significantly from Curio’s model. The state’s existing infrastructure, transportation corridors, and workforce make it a strong candidate for future nuclear investment.

Imagine transporting nuclear fuel from Russia, Canada, and Kazakhstan to the united States. This does not make the US energy independent. And, it looks as though Louisiana is the “target” for Curio’s model.

This writer will admit, this is a lot to take in and understand. It certainly is not as “sensational”, emotion-producing, and “interesting” as chips in the brain, AI babies, violation of God-given unalienable rights, memes about Beijing Biden or Trump, or the various goings on in Washington, DC with the Department of Government Efficiency. However, this particular issue can be life altering and not in a good way.

McGinnis is proposing the recycling of spent nuclear fuel to enrich his company Curio and his back hip pocket. He cares not about facts, irradiating his family or yours, irradiating the environment, transporting nuclear fuel and waste through your town, or whether the risks outweigh the benefits. He’s singing the song he needs to sing to gain support for this “venture” from the public and government officials, particularly in Louisiana. Plenty of people, like “Nuclear Hazelnut”, are willing to spread his lies and propaganda to the public. Don’t believe them! Don’t believe this writer without checking the resources and doing the research for yourself.

Nuclear energy production was thrust upon the public without any means to dispose of toxic, radioactive nuclear waste. Recycling isn’t the answer either as has been revealed. No matter what type of nuclear reactor is being promulgated, there is a risk associated with having one near your backyard. Ask the people near Three Mile Island, Hanford, the now shuttered Indian Point plant, the now shuttered San Onofre plant, Chernobyl, Fukushima, and the currently operating with a leaning tower and sinking foundation Plant Vogtle. And, when you think about this toxic radioactive nuclear waste having to be managed for up to 500,000 years (10,000 generations), what provisions can be provided for by any government to cover management of nuclear waste for that period of time?

This is not the “clean energy solution” it has been touted to be nor is it a plausible energy solution because of the dangerous type of waste it produces. Think about this, are you willing to have nuclear fuel and nuclear waste traverse near your town on its way to a nuclear power plant or to a dumping site in another State where no one wants that waste near them? Are you willing to do that to your fellow Americans? Right now, nuclear fuel and nuclear waste are being transported along America’s highways and byways. The risk for an accident during transport is there.

This is coming to a neighborhood near you. So be warned. Louisiana, since you are up to bat, you can hit it out of the park to stop it or you can punt to take first base on the recycling spent nuclear fuel ballfield.

Article posted with permission from Sons of Liberty Media