Nah, now they bury it under Yukka Mtn... Now, the Russians ARE still dumping in the deep ocean. Well, I didn't say it was a perfect world.
One of the things I've seen that's encouraging is the technology that's been developed. For example, it's possible (now) to build a facility that could bombard the "waste" with particles that'll facilitate it's breakdown into short-lived stuff. That way there'd be no more worries about 10's or 100's of years of storage...
Ok, I'll bite
Read the Foundation series again: You'll find it is Nuclear they're talking about. They're always mentioning how the "reactor" turns to lead. Of course, this is all psuedo-science fiction (key word is fiction...)
Having said that, science fiction has given real scientists "ideas" before. Seen it, been there, done that. Anyway, it is possible to bombard a core with a beam of particles (x-rays in your example) and cause a reaction. Making it energy efficient is the challenge.
Oh, I have seen the articles on the hafnium. It's interesting. I'll wait for some more analysis to come out before I pass judgement on it.
Actually, most of the modern "intrinsically safe" reactor designs use either liquid metal (sodium or lead) or helium as the heat exchange medium. This eliminates the water in the reactor vessel (it has this bad habit of boiling off...)
The reactor you're thinking of is a '60's design. There haven't been any new plants started in the U.S. since shortly after TMI, all of which were based on existing designs. There's been a lot of research done lately...
The range for the "new" battery is around 250-300 miles. The 80 mile range was apparently for an older battery used in the prototype around the 2001 time frame.
I should add, I might be biased: I have worked for the DOE before. I've always supported nuclear power. I should also say that I grew up in and live in an area where I'm within 20 miles of a large nuclear power plant with 2 reactors and within 20 miles of a Naval base, which at any point in time might have a dozen nuclear powered ships at dock (although it's usually fewer). And let's not forget the shipyard less than 10 miles from here that builds, tests, and overhauls nuclear powered aircraft carriers and submarines.
You could say I've been immersed in nuclear power all my life...
Ok, actually, I think it's innovative. There are / will be places where another alternative isn't an option. So, if they can develop this, delivering on their promises, then, yeah Toshiba.
Alright, in the case of Galena, they may have a developable (spelling's bad, No?) geo-thermal source. In that case, I say that's the way to go.
There are areas where solar is an option; so you could consider PV or a parabolic collector. Likewise there are places where wind or water power are available. I'll tell you that my Mother's from New Zealand; and, they get most of their power from water and geothermal. They've done an outstanding job at it and I applaud them for it.
However, (and here's where we might have to agree to disagree) In the U.S., I firmly believe the best option for generating power for the big urban areas is nuclear. There have been a lot of advancements recently (some of which haven't been realized commercially) which could make it the safe, clean form of energy we really need. I would like to see this developed and I personally believe Hitachi is on the right track.
Sure the do. For starters, we don't know what was in the object; or, assuming it might have contained film or data on tape, what was on the film or tape. some of the technology and encryption from that era are still classified.
OK, now lets suppose the damn thing contained a nuclear rtg. This is possible because a lot of spy satellites used them for power. That's more than enough reason for the area to be "quarantined" and to keep the residents in the dark wrt what it was.
Ok, if they have geothermal available in the area it's probably viable.
You are correct wrt my comment about drilling through the crust... I've had that option thrown back at me before; and, really it's not an option... Conventional oil drilling can reach depths where heat can be extracted. The question is, is there enough heat to be useable; and, will the $20million pay for the drilling and the plant.
Most geothermal is only economical when you're sitting on top of an upwelling of magma anyway... So, once again, if it's available, they should go for it.
How about a film canister from a spy satellite. They used to take the pictures then have a re-entry vehicle drop the canister. If it fell in a civilian area (where it wasn't supposed to) it would attract attention. It would also draw military police and firepower appropriate to guard a top-secret piece of material. And, yes, they'd shoot you for trying to get to it...
geothermal would require they have geothermal heat available (and accessible) where they're at. Do they? If so, one would think they'd have considered it.
If you're thinking of trying to drill all the way through the crust, forget it. You could easily waste $20M trying and never get deep enough to matter.
I'd love to know where this 10,000 years stuff comes from (Another post said 50,000 years)... Most of the really hazardous stuff breaks down in a few years. The dangerous radioactivity is reduced to safe levels after a few 10's or 100's of years. After that, it's just a question of having a pile of Uranium in one spot...
Yeah, it's still radioactive; but, no more so than when it was raw ore. Now, it's just mixed with stuff...
Your lost aren't you? Haven't taken your nuclear physics classes yet? Anthing lighter than Fe (that's Iron) takes more energy to split than you get out.
Even then (given something heavier), it's not as efficient as splitting an already unstable nucleus. Uranium and Thorium are readily available and readily fissionable. Reducing nuclear waste is just a matter of tuning the reactor design (we are still running designs from the '60's remember).
Not true. 10,000 Years is the Half-Life of the Uranium. But, it'd be spread out so thin that the total amount of radiation from that would be insignificant. Most of the dangerous stuff only has a half-life of a few years (10's of years max).
This has always been the case with metals and glass in most areas in the U.S. You just have to know where to take it. Our neighbor (a plumber working for the city) supplimented his income with money he made via metal recycling. This was, of course, in the days before recycling became mainstream.
sorting metal is easily done by the factory using an electromagnet...
The automotive industry is also the largest consummer of recycled steel...
It doesn't matter whether it's an SUV or a zero emissions electric car -- they're both made of metals...
It requires less energy to re-smelt the metal than to extract it from the ore and process it from scratch (although they're often mixed new with recycled to control the final mixture)...
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Nah, now they bury it under Yukka Mtn... Now, the Russians ARE still dumping in the deep ocean. Well, I didn't say it was a perfect world.
One of the things I've seen that's encouraging is the technology that's been developed. For example, it's possible (now) to build a facility that could bombard the "waste" with particles that'll facilitate it's breakdown into short-lived stuff. That way there'd be no more worries about 10's or 100's of years of storage...
Having said that, science fiction has given real scientists "ideas" before. Seen it, been there, done that. Anyway, it is possible to bombard a core with a beam of particles (x-rays in your example) and cause a reaction. Making it energy efficient is the challenge.
Oh, I have seen the articles on the hafnium. It's interesting. I'll wait for some more analysis to come out before I pass judgement on it.
Any company that handles medical wastes would know what to do with it...
The reactor you're thinking of is a '60's design. There haven't been any new plants started in the U.S. since shortly after TMI, all of which were based on existing designs. There's been a lot of research done lately...
The range for the "new" battery is around 250-300 miles. The 80 mile range was apparently for an older battery used in the prototype around the 2001 time frame.
You could say I've been immersed in nuclear power all my life...
Ok, actually, I think it's innovative. There are / will be places where another alternative isn't an option. So, if they can develop this, delivering on their promises, then, yeah Toshiba.
Alright, in the case of Galena, they may have a developable (spelling's bad, No?) geo-thermal source. In that case, I say that's the way to go.
There are areas where solar is an option; so you could consider PV or a parabolic collector. Likewise there are places where wind or water power are available. I'll tell you that my Mother's from New Zealand; and, they get most of their power from water and geothermal. They've done an outstanding job at it and I applaud them for it.
However, (and here's where we might have to agree to disagree) In the U.S., I firmly believe the best option for generating power for the big urban areas is nuclear. There have been a lot of advancements recently (some of which haven't been realized commercially) which could make it the safe, clean form of energy we really need. I would like to see this developed and I personally believe Hitachi is on the right track.
It effectively makes the car a hybrid.
OK, now lets suppose the damn thing contained a nuclear rtg. This is possible because a lot of spy satellites used them for power. That's more than enough reason for the area to be "quarantined" and to keep the residents in the dark wrt what it was.
Not really...
You are correct wrt my comment about drilling through the crust... I've had that option thrown back at me before; and, really it's not an option... Conventional oil drilling can reach depths where heat can be extracted. The question is, is there enough heat to be useable; and, will the $20million pay for the drilling and the plant.
Most geothermal is only economical when you're sitting on top of an upwelling of magma anyway... So, once again, if it's available, they should go for it.
How about a film canister from a spy satellite. They used to take the pictures then have a re-entry vehicle drop the canister. If it fell in a civilian area (where it wasn't supposed to) it would attract attention. It would also draw military police and firepower appropriate to guard a top-secret piece of material. And, yes, they'd shoot you for trying to get to it...
Several liquid sodium cooled reactors have already been built.
If you're thinking of trying to drill all the way through the crust, forget it. You could easily waste $20M trying and never get deep enough to matter.
Yeah, it's still radioactive; but, no more so than when it was raw ore. Now, it's just mixed with stuff...
Now, if someone is so determined that they'll sit out in the Alaskan winter with a jackhammer for a month or two... Oh, never mind.
If you read the article, you'd see they estimated the initial development cost on the order of $600Million...
We're talking about northern Alaska... For periods of time (which happen to be the coldest) there's little or no light...
Even then (given something heavier), it's not as efficient as splitting an already unstable nucleus. Uranium and Thorium are readily available and readily fissionable. Reducing nuclear waste is just a matter of tuning the reactor design (we are still running designs from the '60's remember).
you don't want wind power up there. It would be nearly impossible to repair in the winter. Not to mention, the oil in the gearbox would gel.
Because it's only 10MW; not big enough to power a city
Because they go through fuel at the rate of Mgallons a year; for which they pay a premium
Because it would make their lives much easier; it makes a good test case -- and shows some charity
Not true. 10,000 Years is the Half-Life of the Uranium. But, it'd be spread out so thin that the total amount of radiation from that would be insignificant. Most of the dangerous stuff only has a half-life of a few years (10's of years max).
How's that for sarcasm?
sorting metal is easily done by the factory using an electromagnet...
The automotive industry is also the largest consummer of recycled steel...
It doesn't matter whether it's an SUV or a zero emissions electric car -- they're both made of metals ...
It requires less energy to re-smelt the metal than to extract it from the ore and process it from scratch (although they're often mixed new with recycled to control the final mixture)...
So, now we must invade Canada. The evil Canadians could use this to create Weapons of Mass Destruction! We must stop the Canadian Evil Empire...