Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant has started releasing treated radioactive water, from the damaged nuclear plant hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011, into the ocean. The move has stirred up conversation around a question that scientists and governments have been struggling to answer for decades: how to manage nuclear waste?
Nuclear energy is one of many alternatives to carbon-based power on the path of climate change mitigation. Currently, 10% of the world’s electricity comes from nuclear energy. Aiming for net-zero emissions, many countries are mulling a higher contribution from nuclear as a way to transition to clean energy. The U.S., Switzerland, Spain, Sweden, and Finland are all planning to build new or update existing nuclear reactors, while India, China, and Russia are working on expanding their nuclear power projects.
However, using nuclear energy comes with its own challenges – one of the biggest being how the facility will be able to store and dispose of nuclear waste in a safe and controlled manner.
