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Fusion-Fission System Burns Hot Radioactive Waste

Posted by kdawson on from the super-x-divertor dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A hybrid fission-fusion process has been developed that can be used in some traditional fission reactors to process radioactive waste and reduce the amount of waste produced by 99%. This process uses magnetic bottle techniques developed from fusion research. This seems like the first viable solution to the radioactive waste problem of traditional nuclear reactors. This could be a big breakthrough in the search for environmentally friendly energy sources. Lots of work remains to take the concept to an engineering prototype and then to a production reactor."

2 of 432 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Keep wishing... by conureman · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    The Christians try (?) to emulate The Christ. Anarchists strive (?!) for perfect morality. IMHO the Technological Man should look to the impact that neolithic humans had, and strive to preserve a viable portion of our planet suitable for the (soon-to-be) former flora and fauna of this planet.

    --
    The cost of that cleanup, of course, will be borne by taxpayers, not industry.
  2. Re:You don't understand by timeOday · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Until all of humanity lives like the Amish, we are all evil and destroying the Earth.

    You question that we are destroying the earth?

    We are burning fossil fuels thousands or millions of times faster than they regenerate.
    Cities keep expanding and consuming additional land which never returns to its natural state.
    Animal species are going extinct at unprecedented rates.

    These trends cannot continue forever. That should be obvious and is not a matter of opinion or morality.

    So, we can either stop soon while the earth is still a relatively good place to live, or wait until we hit carrying capacity. At that point the population is controlled by poverty/starvation and there are no nice places left.

    I'm not saying we've already hit the wall, or that I know when we would hit it. But at least admit that there are limits out there somewhere, and if present trends continue, we will reach them.