CamaroSkooter Nice post, you are a wise man.
As for the radioactive waste, MOST of it only has a half-life of a few years (Cobalt-60).
Unfortunately, the EPA is forcing my plant to decommission early. Since our plant is a BWR, we have in the past caused a "fish kill". A BWR relies on an external water source to cool the plant. The discharged water is warm, but when the plant is shutdown to fast, the warm water no longer flows. The lack of warm water shocks the fish and they go belly up. If we had COOLING TOWERS, we wouldn't have that issue...