Nuclear advocate Jenifer Avallaneda Diaz — known as Nuclear Hazelnut on X — laid out some facts about nuclear waste in a pinned post on her X feed. Nuclear power plants, she explains, produce a very small amount of waste, most of which can be recycled, for the amount of power they produce. The waste is stored safely and no one has ever been harmed by it, and the harmful radiation diminishes in about 300 years.
“The ‘waste problem’ doesn’t even require a solution; it’s not a problem at all,” Diaz states.
The post is accompanied by a photo of herself wearing safety glasses, a hard hat, and high-visibility safety vest, as she stands next to some cooling towers. When she’s not advocating for nuclear energy, Diaz is a nuclear engineer at Westinghouse. This makes her a bit unique as 83% of nuclear engineers are male.
Support for nuclear energy is at an all-time high. A Pew Research Center poll released in August showed 56% of people favor more nuclear power plants. At the same time, there’s a gap in support between men and women: 70% of men support nuclear energy, according to the poll, but only 44% of women do.
Misinformation and representation
The nuclear industry is expecting to see ongoing support under a second Trump administration, and President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, currently sits on the board of small modular reactor startup Oklo. With the industry likely to advance in the coming years, Diaz and other advocates are exploring ways to address the concerns women have about nuclear energy. […]
— Read More: justthenews.com
