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The US Department of Energy's Nuclear Safety Office is developing a project to help other countries deal with nuclear waste. The information comes from two sources who spoke to the Reuters news agency. They asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the problem.
Sources indicate that the plan aims to keep the United States competitive with other countries developing their own waste treatment technology. For example, Russia and France offer nuclear waste treatment services.
Dov Schwartz is the spokesperson for the National Nuclear Security Administration. He confirmed that the group was thinking about how to help other countries to reduce nuclear waste. Schwartz did not, however, give details.
The NNSA also declined a Reuters interview request for Brent Park, which is leading the effort.
What would the technology do?
According to unidentified sources, this technology could involve grinding, heating or sending an electrical current through nuclear waste to reduce their size.
The necessary machines would be placed in a "black box" the size of a container. It would be sent to other countries with nuclear power programs. However, he remains detained and exploited by the United States, the sources said.
The sources did not name the countries to which the service would be offered. They also did not specify where the waste would be stored after pbading through the equipment. But they feared that these processes increase the risk of hazardous materials reaching militant groups or hostile nations in the United States.
Former US President Jimmy Carter banned the reprocessing of nuclear waste in 1977. Reprocessing opens large uranium and plutonium, both of which could be used to make nuclear bombs.
NNSA spokesman Dov Schwartz said the plans under review do not involve reprocessing. But he did not specify which technologies could be used.
concerns
The government of US President Donald Trump has made the promotion of nuclear technology abroad a major badet. priority. US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has visited Saudi Arabia this month for talks on a nuclear energy deal with the kingdom. And the US company Westinghouse hopes to sell nuclear energy technology to countries ranging from Saudi Arabia to India.
But a senior arms control official, under the Obama administration, is challenging the direction taken by the Trump government. Thomas Countryman said that the United States should improve its ability to dispose of its own nuclear waste before helping other countries.
A nuclear expert from the Union of Concerned Scientists also expressed doubts about the NNSA plan. Edwin Lyman said the NNSA should not focus on reducing the size of nuclear waste. Instead, it should worry about the dangers of nuclear waste that make storage difficult.
Lyman said that even a small amount of nuclear waste emitted radioactivity and heat. This "remains dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years," he said.
I am Susan Shand.
The Reuters news agency reported this story. Susan Shand has adapted it for VOA Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor.
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Words in this story
source – not. a person, a book, etc., that gives information
uranium – not. a radioactive element used to manufacture nuclear energy and nuclear weapons
plutonium – not. a radioactive element used to manufacture nuclear energy and nuclear weapons
priority – not. something that is more important than other things and that needs to be done or treated first
radioactive – adj. have or produce a powerful and dangerous form of energy
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