Engineer debunks widespread myth about nuclear energy: 'Kind of misleading'

Despite widespread misconceptions, nuclear waste can actually be recycled to create new fuel and by-products, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

While the United States does not currently recycle spent nuclear fuel, opting instead to store it, several foreign countries, including France, do. That said, one of the common arguments against nuclear energy is that waste disposal and recycling are dangerous and unfeasible.

However, a nuclear science and engineering Ph.D. student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kaylee Cunningham, who posts under the Ms. Nuclear Energy account (@cunningham.kaylee), is here to set the record straight. 

In a TikTok video she made in response to a user who claimed nuclear waste is "unusable," Cunningham debunked that argument, citing facts from the DOE. The agency said that "more than 90% of its potential energy still remains in the fuel, even after five years of operation in a reactor." 

@cunningham.kaylee Replying to @user452981993384 #greenscreen fun facts #nucleartok #nuketok #nuclearwaste #msnuclearenergy #recycle #fuelcycle ♬ original sound - Ms. Nuclear Energy

Explaining the process in more detail, she said that U-235 and U-238 fuel rods — both isotopes of uranium used in nuclear reactors and weapons — can be recovered and reprocessed into valuable materials. 

For example, excess U-238 can be placed in a breeder reactor, which produces more nuclear fuel than it consumes. In the reactor, it's transformed into a fissile material such as plutonium, which can be used as fuel in a new cycle. 

Cunningham said that "the U-235 burns off as you're doing fission to make electricity." However, as the DOE noted, a significant amount of uranium remains in the spent fuel after the fission process. Some countries have reprocessing plants that recover the remaining uranium to create fresh fuel, thereby eliminating the need for new uranium ore.

While the U.S. doesn't recycle spent nuclear fuel because it's still more cost-effective to mine for new materials, the DOE has expressed renewed interest in developing recycling methods for used fuel, especially in the context of advanced reactor designs, per Physics Today magazine. 

"Kind of misleading to call it waste," Cunningham concluded, adding that there's a move in terminology to "spent" or "used" nuclear fuel as experts recognize the potential of the material as a resource rather than a liability.

Aside from the environmental benefits of recycling nuclear waste, the actual production of nuclear energy to generate electricity is crucial to the clean energy transition, as it produces minimal carbon pollution and no air pollutants, such as particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, unlike fossil fuels, per Nuclear Energy Institute. 

How would you feel about a nuclear power plant being built near your home? I'd be excited 😀 I'd be scared 😨 I'd be angry 😠 I wouldn't care 🤷 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

In addition, nuclear power plants have a small land footprint and can provide a reliable and consistent supply of electricity, serving as a backup power source for intermittent renewables like solar and wind. 

"Nuclear energy is a literal cheat code and we're not using it," one commenter said. 

"Coal power produces 10 times the amount of radioactive waste," another shared.

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