LESSON 101 on Australia's Nuclear FutureEvery 40 years, a single...

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 a 1 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 modern 1 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?

1. Energy Density:

   • 1 uranium pellet (size of a fingertip) = 1 ton of coal.

2. Reprocessing:

   • Countries like France recycle 96% of spent fuel, reducing waste further.

3. 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).