That's what happens when the Left & their media mates done listen clearly to the Peter Duttons answers.
PLEASE READ BEFORE REPLYING
LESSON 101 on Australia's Nuclear Future
Every 40 years, a single user’s share would fill half a soda can.
So here we go & hopefully the younger generation " understand the facts "Nuclear Waste per Electricity User: The "Soda Can" Method
To estimate how much nuclear waste a1 GW reactor produces per electricity user per year, we’ll use the"drinking can" (soda can) analogy—a common way to visualize nuclear waste volumes.
Step 1: Total Waste from a 1 GW Reactor
A modern1 gigawatt (GW) nuclear plant running at 90% capacity produces:
~30 metric tons of spent fuel per year(high-level waste, HLW).
After reprocessing (in countries like France), this reduces to~3 m³ of vitrified waste.
Soda Can Equivalent:
1 soda can ≈ 0.33 liters(standard 12 oz can).
30 tons of spent fuel ≈ 3 m³=~9,000 soda cans/year(for the entire reactor).
Step 2: Waste Per Electricity User
1 GW reactor supplies~8 million people (assuming 1,200 kWh/year per person).
Total waste per person/year:
9,000 cans8,000,000 people=0.0011 soda cans per person per year8,000,000 people9,000 cans=0.0011 soda cans per person per year(Or~1 can per 1,000 people/year).
Visualization:
Every 40 years, a single user’s share would fill half a soda can.
Compared to coal:The same energy would produce~10,000 kg CO₂ per person/year(filling a hot air balloon).
Step 3: Why So Little Waste?
Energy Density:
1 uranium pellet (size of a fingertip) =1 ton of coal.
Reprocessing:
Countries like France recycle96% of spent fuel, reducing waste further.
Advanced Reactors:
Next-gen reactors (e.g., SMRs, fast breeders) could cut waste by 90%.
Real-World Context
All U.S. nuclear waste ever produced fits on a single football field(stacked 10m high).
Per person, lifetime nuclear waste ≈ a golf ball (vs.50 dump trucks of coal ash).
