A FEW months ago you published an article from me describing better ways of dealing with nuclear waste; here is an update.

The standard concept of treating spent nuclear fuel is to dissolve it in nitric acid.

This high level solution (HLS) is then extracted with an organic solvent to take out plutonium and uranium and leave high level liquid(HLL).

The latter is vitrified to give high active gas (HAG), which would then eventually be buried in a deep repository in rock.

The system’s safety depends on preventing activity being leached from HAG to migrate through rock to effect anyone drinking it.

The costs of this underground ‘city’ are many tens of billions; there is no sensible way of assessing the hazard.

There is no suggestion of how to dispose of sold spent fuel but it would be just as costly and even more hazardous because of its fissile content.

I have put forward far cheaper treatment and disposal routes.

BOB BURTON Culcheth