Is nuclear energy "green" energy?

A British govt. office is not quite satisfied with EDF/AREVA’s EPR design and Westinghouse’s AP1000. Press release, exec and tech reports hereabouts:

HSE reports on nuclear reactor designs

Or you can read 'hair on fire' journalism at the Guardian's website.

 

I realized you were joking, but your first comment made me think of this:

The Straight Dope: Could a year's waste from a nuclear power plant be stored under a desk?

I also recall that someone once asked Cecil Adams why we couldn't just rebury the nuclear waste since it originally came from the earth. I couldn't find that answer, but I remember that the volume of earth that you would have to use to get the concentration down to natural radiation levels was on the same order as the volume of the earth.

I have an unhealthy suspicion and mistrust of human beings.

With regard to nuclear power, I now think of one of my former coworkers who was incompetent to the extent that I seriously questioned how he could possibly graduate with an engineering degree. If he ever became a nuclear engineer, it would be equivalent to having an actual Homer Simpson.

One aspect that I haven't seen discussed is how you can design a container for HLW that you can be assured will remain intact for many thousands of years and prevent the leaching of radioactive material into the water table. My understanding is that one of the recent delays in using the Yucca mountain facility is that the glass material(s) that they were planning to use was not as stable as they originally believed that it would be.

I've been waiting for a sheep thread so I can use this:

 

Here is an interesting interview about the creation of Yucca Mountain and other repositories.

BLDGBLOG: One Million Years of Isolation: An Interview with Abraham Van Luik

 

Some information regarding France's nuclear power..

Nuclear Power in France | French Nuclear Energy

Both of their fast breeders are offline, one being decommissioned for political reasons.

As for the recycling of fuel, they take 850 tonnes of spent fuel, and reprocess it with less then 42 tonnes of actual waste.

OTOH, Here is a nice article regarding the safety of Nuclear power.
Accident Casts Fresh Doubt on Nuclear Safety | CommonDreams.org

 

Although I am not a fan of nuclear energy, it is interesting that a country (France) realized it's lack of energy independence and took a long term viewpoint and developed an energy infrasturcture that produces energy to export AND it has become a leading developer and exporter of nuclear energy technology.

Just imagine what the US could have done if we had ever had a long term energy policy! Imagine if we were the world's leading innovators and producers of EV, solar, wind, geo, tidal, etc etc.

What a missed opportunity!