Bryan Lyland, dam safety engineer, New Zealand: In 2023, two Dams failed in Libya and maybe drowned 20,000 people. It has been almost completely ignored by the dam industry. Nuclear power has killed less than 100 worldwide since the 1950s and that was the failure of the nuclear equivalent of a model T Ford.
Colin Hunt, Government and Regulatory Affairs, Canadian Nuclear Society: The situation with nuclear power in the USA is difficult and complicated. This has little to do with the actual nature of radioactive materials and everything to do with the complicated way the United States does everything in nuclear power. Used nuclear fuel is not a problem. Since the early 1980s, there has been a very effective method of dealing with used nuclear fuel (and by extension all nuclear materials regardless of their activity level – Dry Storage.
Since first implemented, no member of the public has been injured by radioactive materials stored in such a way. No radioactive materials have escaped from any dry storage container into the environment. After nearly half a century, in all that time, dry storage has a 100% safety and effectiveness record. Have you ever heard of anything in the real world having 100% safety success? Well, dry storage for nuclear fuel is one.
Thanks to these engineers in Canada and New Zealand for explaining so clearly what is seldom done as well by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the US Department of Energy
