Imagine a contest to select the world’s most polluting industry. There are worthy contenders. Picture the executives of these companies eagerly shouting “Pick me, pick me!” So let’s get started.
Candidate Number 1
We might begin with the nuclear power industry. Today there are 437 nuclear reactors operating worldwide. The first began sending electricity to the grid in the early 1950’s. Their output, besides electrons, is large quantities of nuclear waste.
How much of this dangerous waste material, produced during the last 70 years or so, is now located in its final resting place? Answer: 0%. That’s right. None of it. It all waits in temporary storage.
When first removed from reactors, spent fuel, still hot and radioactive, is placed in pools of cooling water which must be continuously refreshed so it doesn’t boil away. If that happened, the spent fuel would quickly overheat and melt, causing catastrophe. This requires a reliable water supply, pumps to keep the water flowing, and people, real live people, to monitor the operation.
After a few years, the waste, cooler but still dangerous, is transferred to dry casks where it waits and waits.
Collections of these casks are vulnerable to weather and seismic events, clueless sightseers, and gun-toting citizens bent on target practice. And of course there are evildoers who might get the bright idea to blow them up or set them on fire. This is ok for temporary storage, but for long-term, it just doesn’t cut it.
But help is on the way. One country is now preparing to store nuclear waste permanently deep underground. No, not the USA, not France, not China, and definitely not Russia. It is Finland, population 5.5 million. The first load is scheduled for interment in 2023. Bravo to the Finns.
Nuclear power plants have other problems. There is the potential for catastrophic accidents. They don’t happen often, but when they do, it’s a big deal. The 1986 Chernobyl accident in Ukraine resulted in the permanent evacuation of the nearby town of Pripyat. Population pre-accident: 49,000. Population today: zero. The 2011 Fukushima Japan nuclear accident resulted in the evacuation of 154,000 people. More such events are inevitable in coming decades and centuries.
Then there is lake Karachay. It was a mid-twentieth century Soviet Union nuclear waste dump. It is located 1100 miles due east of Moscow. This lake became so radioactive that standing next to it for an hour would give you fatal exposure to radioactivity. Note: we are not talking about swimming in the lake. That would pretty much be suicide. This is just taking a stroll near the shore. If you plan on visiting, leave your water-skiing equipment at home.
Candidate Number 2
The next nomination goes to the mining industry. Abandoned mines are everywhere. By one estimate, there are more than a million worldwide. A question was posed to the web site communityliteracy.org. It was: Are old mines toxic? Here is the answer, quoted from the site:
Abandoned mine sites are great safety hazards. Many of these structures contain dilapidated frames, open shafts, and water- filled pits. The dangers that are found in the mines include old explosives, hazardous chemicals, bats, snakes, spiders, bobcats, mountain lions and other predators.
Yikes!
If you find this interesting, watch Tar Creek, the film about Picher, Oklahoma, a town in the northeast corner of the state. Picher is so polluted by mining that the EPA paid residents to move. Some folks, however, attached to their home town, refused to leave despite the danger. Most recent census: population 20.
Another unfortunate town can’t be excluded from the narrative. It is Wittenoom in Western Australia. A substance called “blue asbestos” was mined there from the 1930’s to the 1960’s. Turns out there are six types of asbestos, and of those, the blue variety is considered the most dangerous to humans.
This blue asbestos stuff so thoroughly permeated the landscape that the town couldn’t be restored to livability. Residents were evacuated, and the town was literally wiped off the map. Don’t go there.
Candidate Number 3
Or maybe the plastics industry. Wherever you go, you see it: water bottles, plastic bags, an uncountable variety of plastic containers, all non-biodegradable. Plastic floats on the ocean in huge rotating pools. They call them “gyres.” There are six big ones. The biggest is called The Pacific Garbage Patch.
Although most of this stuff floats near the surface, some has sunk to the bottom. More will do so over time, making it even harder to clean up. Whales, porpoises, dolphins and other sea-creatures find themselves entangled in plastic fishing lines and nets. Some of these aquatic creatures, mistaking pieces of plastic for food, scarf it down. Unfortunately, its food value is zero.
In a world that makes logical sense, manufacturers would play a role in the cleanup. But apparently, they do not. Instead of them, it was a Dutch teenager, Boyan Slat, who developed a technology for removing floating plastic from the ocean.
Slat, now 28, has worked on his project for a decade or so, founding a company called The Ocean Cleanup. It is funded largely by donations. Devices designed by the company team are now deployed around the world, removing large quantities of plastic from the ocean and also rivers. Watch his jaw-dropping explainer video here.
I could find no information about plastic manufacturers contributing to this cleanup effort. I could also find no indication that manufacturers are accepting the plastic thus collected to aid in disposal or recycling. Who knows more about plastic than the companies who create it? They are in the best position to deal with waste plastic. They have the know-how and the experience. But they are missing in action. If this is incorrect, and I am unjustly accusing them, please let me know, and I’ll be happy to give them credit.
These are some of the nominees, but the winner rules them all. Announcement coming soon.