Finland, Bastion of Nuclear Waste

Instinctively, when the topic of nuclear energy is broached, I immediately think in broad terms, of meltdowns, of the tragic and destructive occurrences on at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, of my German friends that were prohibited from playing out of doors for months in 1986 due to wave upon wave of caustic radiation wafting across the European countryside.

And now I think of Finland.

Finland, still a practitioner of nuclear energy, is spearheading responsible strategies in the disposal of nuclear waste, the radioactive material that is produced from nuclear reactors. This material is highly toxic and must be stored safely in order to ensure that its contents don't contaminate the area it is disposed in.

In the city of Olkiluoto, Finland, a disposal facility for Nuclear waste is currently under construction. The facility is being built smartly into the bedrock in a comb-like cavern, one that is comprised of a long cavern with similar, smaller caverns branching off. Construction is to be complete by 2010.

The facility is a clever move for many reasons. Since the nation's tectonic plates are still shifting from the last ice age, the land has been steadily rising out of the sea for hundreds of years, making it impossible for the waste to contaminate the ocean or the groundwater.

And instead of fashionably worrying about Global Warming like most countries, Finland facility is built in order to be impervious to the impending ice age that planet will invariably receive within the next few hundred years. Since radioactive material has a half life of roughly an ice age, this is good thing.

In the wake of the current energy crisis, Nuclear energy is becoming a more viable prospect in addition to solar energy. Currently in the U.S., roughly 20% of all energy is produced in reactors per year.

And in all honesty, it is relatively safe, a few meltdowns aside. Nonetheless, intelligent management of nuclear facilities and radioactive matter is essential if we are to rely in it in the future.