In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster,
and as always Chernobyl, as anti-nuclear manifestos are quick to remind every
time nuclear powered energy is concerned, there seems to be a sort of stigma
applied to nuclear power. Countries are revising their policies – some for the better, being long overdue,
while other simply limit nuclear power rather precariously. Besides the actual
chain reaction, meltdown or other nuclear hazard event which might possibly
occur, there’s an other big issue with nuclear power and that’s its byproduct – nuclear waste. A novel
technique involving a particle accelerator which can create fast neutrons, in
the process lowering the half-life of waste from hundreds of thousands of years
to mere hundreds, might re-balance the odds back to nuclear, however. Nuclear
energy might be in for a come back.