Modern-day Tower of Babel

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repentant2 said:
… technology coming out where the waste can be recycled and used again.
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The leftover U-238 and the plutonium by-product could be separated and used for fuel. That still leaves lots of radioactive fission products, which are useless for fuel.
repentant2 said:
I would have no problem living with a nuclear waste storage area in my backyard.
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Hey, here’s an idea: The radioactive fission products, while not useful as nuclear fuel, do generate a good amount of heat. Why don’t we all keep a barrel or two in our homes to supply free heat in the winter!
 
Beryllos said:
while not useful as nuclear fuel, do generate a good amount of heat.
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Or possibly in a containment vessel to use the heat for useful work, kind of like “normal” reactors do, just on a smaller scale/at a lower temperature?
 
You are probably one of .0001 percent of the world who would have no problem with radioactive waste dumped next to your home.
repentant2 said:
Properly disposed of it is completely safe
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The problem is that most who deal with nuclear waste rarely properly dispose of it. They find a place to dump it. There are dump spots all of the world.
 
The cost for dealing with radioactive waste is enormous. Most of the nuclear energy folks find it easier just to store onsite or to find a place to dump it.
 
Just keep plenty of lead shielding around to protect your body from the radiation.
 
I would not want any of that radioactive stuff dumped anywhere in my state.
 
repentant2 said:
Nuclear waste is solid, it’s not a sludge that can leak.

Probably shouldn’t base your opinions on nuclear off cartoons.
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You should read about the Hanford site.
https://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/AboutHanfordCleanup
Here are a few key passages:
Besides the millions of tons of solid waste, hundreds of billions of gallons of liquid waste was also generated during the plutonium production days. These liquid wastes were disposed of by pouring them onto the ground or into trenches or holding ponds.
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Liquid wastes generated during the process of extracting plutonium from the uranium “fuel rods” were put into underground storage tanks.
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I’ve heard from people working on the cleanup that many of those old tanks are leaking.
The liquid waste that had been poured onto the ground or held in ponds or trenches has long since evaporated or soaked into the soil on the Site. In doing so, the waste did contaminate some of the soil and is thought to have also created underground “plumes” of contaminants. … Many of these plumes move in varying speeds and move toward the Columbia River.
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The nightmare is not over, not by a long shot.
 
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Yes, we know how well the Dept. of Energy has performed over the years. There are dump sites all of the country.
 
Two things I guess: calling nuclear power the ‘tower of babel’ is unfounded, when better analogies like the internet exist, and why would the Japanese give a crap what the pope thinks? The catholic population is less than 1%
 
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There is nowhere near a majority starting to speak in favor of nuclear, and yes, disposal is our biggest problem. However, nuclear waste is not polluting as it is contained; where it will be finally disposed of is still to be worked out.

However, the number of nuclear reactors either currently being built or on order is growing, not turning down.
 
For years, much of the radioactive waste has been placed into containers and dropped into the ocean at sites all of the world. Eventually, the containers come apart and the radioactive waste just goes into the ocean.
Our government has been trying to find some place to put that waste for years, including a big site in Nevada and a potential site in Texas, but the folks in those two states don’t want it.
Most of the radioactive waste is held onsite at the various nuclear plants. They have not been able to figure out a way to dispose of the stuff.
 
So you have to be a Catholic to care about what Pope Francis thinks? Even my protestant friends care about what the Pope thinks.
That radioactive mess caused by the tsunami and the meltdown at the Fukushima Nuclear Plant caused the Pope to speak out on the issue of nuclear power.
 
I try to apply this to the realities of the country in which I live.
We, Ukrainians were deprived of territory, we are threatened by a formidable state with a huge army on the other side of the border, but if we had a nuclear weapon, then Putin’s Russia would not play the role of predator and player number one in the post-Soviet space.
There are states that understand only the language of force.
 
Next thing you will say is things are perfectly safe a Fukushima and Chernobyl. 😷
 
Sure, you don’t have to be catholic, but Japan doesn’t have the greatest relationship with Christianity in general. The last thing they’d care about is a foreigner fearmongering about an energy source that makes up a third of their power
 
If Trump were not in bed with Putin, America would probably step up and help. NATO as well.
 
I think the Japanese people are disturbed enough by what happened at their Nuclear Plant. There is much concern about the radiation going into the ocean and the effect is has on fishing.
 
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