Dealing with Nuclear Waste in the UK
Nuclear power is something that is useful to us – to reduce the impact of climate change, it has been much better for the planet as a whole to use nuclear power stations rather than coal power stations. However, it is not without its risks and downsides – you only have to look at the list of nuclear accidents to understand what people object to when it comes to using nuclear power.
Another of the issues caused by using nuclear power is also the waste that it produces. In the UK as well as having waste from the nuclear power stations, we also have waste from producing weapons during the cold war – this is known as legacy waste and dealing with it safely and correctly is important if we are to ensure the safety of the environment and those that live in it.
In the past, it has been challenging to deal with this waste. However, thanks to modern technology and new ideas, there are better ways of doing things coming into practice. Robots are being created by companies like this Manchester robotics company https://hotrobotics.co.uk/facilities/university-of-manchester-2/ who will be able to help take many of the dangerous aspects out of the job of cleaning up and decommissioning nuclear sites.
As well as this, the storage facilities and the way that we deal with highly radioactive nuclear waste, which can remain deadly for thousands of years is improving and storage facilities for it ensure that it is not able to create a hazard to the environment.