Since it will be very difficult to convince other environmentalists that this plan could be done without harming ocean ecosystems, I suspect that Yucca Mountain is the most likely candidate for an actual “long-term” solution. It’s better than the current distributed system where the material is just sitting in tanks.

The recent EPA guidelines allowing control of CO2 are going to be a boon for the nuclear industry, making coal plants more expensive to run, and thereby making nuclear (and other green power) more affordable by comparison. Perhaps we’ll be able to make reprocessing part of the cost of running a plant, and that will reduce waste material. It will also make it more attractive for the folks operating this NJ plant to tear it down and build a newer, safer design (pebble bed?).

So Russell – what do you do with the spent nuclear fuel rods and similar materials? And please don’t just say “bury them on the reservations or launch them into space.”