No, we can’t just fire off our nuclear waste into space.
As the UK builds more nuclear reactors, there is an increasing pressure to find somewhere to put the waste. But what actually is nuclear waste? Does it actually look like a bright green sludge? Where does currently go?
To answer these questions and more, we’re joined by Dr Lewis Blackburn, nuclear materials scientist at the University of Sheffield.
He talks about the incredible research going into sealing, burying and locking away nuclear waste, the relationship between nuclear and space (and why we can’t just fire off our nuclear waste on a rocket), and the vast timescales when it comes to nuclear waste that go beyond human lives, including the people working on them.
Find Instant Genius on your preferred podcast platform here: instantgenius.podlink.to/Podcast
Listen to more episodes of Instant Genius:
- How mental imagery training could boost your motivation, with Dr Jon Rhodes
- The fascinating science of fermentation, with Prof Andrea Sella
- Why people believe in ghosts, with Ben Alderson-Day
- How to spot a narcissist, with Dr Erica Hepper
- Solving the UK’s water pollution problem, with Dr Tanja Radu
- Perfectionism, with Thomas Curran