Nuclear power (and weaponry) and the waste around it are a classic example of humanity eagerly pursuing the short term while ignoring, bungling, and/or incessantly bickering about the long-term (dealing with climate change is another one). For all the expertise that goes into creating nuclear power, it appears that dealing with the remaining waste is an even bigger technical challenge — and an anthropological one beyond that.
Some tales here about nuclear waste storage that are equally fascinating and depressing …
How to Store Nuclear Waste for 10,000 Years (and How Not To)
America has currently no plan for its nuclear waste. It did, however, at one point, have a supremely ambitious plan to bury it in a mountain for 10,000 years. From color-changing radioactive cats to rotting kitty litter, this essay from Method Quarterly explores the mythical and the mundane problems of nuclear waste.
Could we develop a microbe that eats nuclear waste? That would solve the problem and couldn't possibly go wrong.
Nah, you're thinking too small — a gorilla, perhaps. Or a komodo dragon. Or a caterpillar. What could go wrong?
( Kaiju! Gesundheit! )