X-Message-Number: 20208
Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2002 09:30:43 -0400
From: Thomas Donaldson <>
Subject: CryoNet #20197 - #20206

Hi everyone!

There seems to be a unified view that the pollution of nuclear
power will stay with us for a long time. That is, thousands of
years. At least 2 ways to deal with that problem in far less
than 1000 years can be suggested:

1. Throw the waste into the Sun.
    Yes, we'll have to store it for a while until our space
   technology advances far enough that we can do this safely,
    but that's likely to be far less than 1000 years.

2. Process it into useful elements
   The problem that many get hung up on here is that such 
     processing can also produce material useful for weapons.
   However anything useful for weapons can also be used for
     quite peaceful applications. Moreover any country able to
   make its own fuel for nuclear reactors ALREADY has the 
   ability to make nuclear weapons. So how could that processing
   really make a serious difference. 

   Not only could processing give us some fissionable elements,
     but even radioactive elements which decay fast enough can
     provide useful energy. Think of Strontium 90, which has
   already been used in probes of the outer Solar System, where
   Solar power ceases to be practical at all. And if those 
   elements decay slowly, then that decay produces correspondingly
     less damage. And it is the slowly decaying elements which
   take the longest to decay: like 10,000 years or more.

Just some thoughts on nuclear power, given the problem of excess
CO2.

               Best wishes and long long life to all,

                     Thomas Donaldson

PS: And early versions of fusion power will still make radioactive
    elements, too.

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=20208