0
0
0
The Indian Point nuclear power plant was an energy juggernaut for 50 years, generating a quarter of the electricity that powered New York City's iconic, glowing skyline.
It is well into its decommissioning process after shutting down in 2021: The remaining waste of the radioactive fuel that once generated all of that power has been sealed inside more than 120 hulking metal and concrete canisters.
This is one of several misconceptions about nuclear energy: America's nuclear waste is not buried in a mountain or tucked at the bottom of a deep, rocky cavern. It is sealed away in coffin-like casks and spread out among more than 50 locations around the country.
Most other countries with longstanding nuclear energy programs have plans to create a permanent home for these spent fuel canisters. The US does not.
That is almost entirely because Americans are by and large opposed to living anywhere near nuclear waste, and suspicious of governments' or utilities' attempts to assuage nuclear fears. But the perception of danger is a hurdle quickly becoming one of the country's biggest obstacles to uploading a glut of climate-friendly energy onto the grid.
Tap the link in bio for more.
📸 : Mike Stewart/AP
