Tag: Nuclear Waste

Nukes On The Moon

A familiar scenario?  Back in 1975 TV was graced with a new scifi show, Space 1999, and its story line went something like this….

The premise of Space: 1999 centers on the plight of the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha, a scientific research center on the Moon. Humanity had been storing its nuclear waste in vast disposal sites on the far side of the Moon, but when an unknown form of magnetic radiation is detected, the accumulated waste reaches critical mass and causes a massive thermonuclear explosion on 13 September 1999. The force of the blast propels the Moon like an enormous booster rocket, hurling it out of Earth orbit and into deep space at colossal speed, thus stranding the 311 personnel stationed on Alpha

I know what does this have to do with this particular post?

You guys know me I like to give some background before I leap into the post……and there you have it.

There seems to be a problem with nuclear waste here on planet Earth…..and the Moon looks like a good place to store the excess…..as soon as we set up our station…..our Lunar Base…….

Not content to desecrate our terrestrial landscape with hundreds of thousands of tons of nuclear waste — much piled up with nowhere to go, the rest released to contaminate our air, water and soil — humankind, in all its folly, now plans to do the same to the Moon. And, eventually to Mars.

…

NASA, the US Department of Energy and assorted nuclear labs are pushing the small modular reactor for nuclear projects on the Moon and Mars. Desperate to stay relevant and to continue gobbling up taxpayer dollars, this is music to the failing nuclear industry’s ears. Financially disastrous and technically unresolved on Earth, the SMR, say these “experts”, is ideally suited to the needs of humans living for extensive periods in space.

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Needless to say, so far there is no certified design, no test reactor, no actual reactor, and no fool-proof way to send such a reactor to the Moon. (Rockets have an unfortunate habit of sometimes blowing up on — or shortly after — launch.) Nevertheless, the year 2026 is the ambitious target date for all systems go. In keeping with the theme, “pie in the sky” springs to mind.

Nukes on the Moon?

Can you see why this story made me think of a TV show?

I have been asked why I find the Space stuff so compelling…..easy answer….we have fucked up this planet and we are making plans to do the same to others in our spacial neighborhood.

For those interested…..I believe that this story violates Article IV of the Outer Space Treaty…

Article IV
States Parties to the Treaty undertake not to place in orbit around the earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction, install such weapons on celestial bodies, or station such weapons in outer space in any other manner.
The moon and other celestial bodies shall be used by all States Parties to the Treaty exclusively for peaceful purposes. The establishment of military bases, installations and fortifications, the testing of any type of weapons and the conduct of military manoeuvres on celestial bodies shall be forbidden. The use of military personnel for scientific research or for any other peaceful purposes shall not be prohibited. The use of any equipment or facility necessary for peaceful exploration of the moon and other celestial bodies shall also not be prohibited

https://history.nasa.gov/printFriendly/1967treaty.html

Granted the Article is talking about nuke weapons….but I suggest that waste is a weapon and weaponized fairly easy and quickly.

Commercializing space will do more damage than good (my opinion)…..greed will replace scientific curiosity….and look where greed has brought this world to and do we truly want it happening again?  And again?

For further reading:

https://lobotero.com/2020/09/02/legal-black-holes-of-outer-space/

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

It’s Not As Bad As You Think

Calm Down!  Just take a deep breath and calm down!

There is been a plethora of “experts” paraded across the tube trying to calm the sensibilities of the American people over the possible contamination from radiation pouring out of reactors in tsunami torn Japan…….CALM DOWN!

Here is a quickie for your history buffs…….about 25 years ago we had the same scenario playing out in the world……we bombed Libya and Chernobyl was heating up (no pun intended)……okay on to the main point of this post……

If you are old (like me) then you will remember all the fear that was foisted onto the American people back in the days of the Cold War…..we told that we could die from radiation and we were told how to protect ourselves from it…..like hiding under your desk…..now there was a brilliant idea……we were told that fallout….even if miles away would still infect us with all sorts of biblical afflictions….boils, loss of hair, blindness,  frogs (no that one was not in there)….anyway you get the picture….we were told that it was bad…..really BAD!

But now it is not so bad that we need to worry about any sickness……but how bad is bad?

According to Encyclopaedia Britannica:-

“The average total dose received from all three [natural] sources by a person residing at sea level is approximately 0.91 mSv per year; however, a dose twice this size [which makes 1.82 mSv per year] may be received by a person residing at a higher elevation such as Denver, Colo., where cosmic rays are more intense, or by a person residing in a geographic region where the radium content of the soil is relatively high.   In the latter type of region, the radioactive gas radon, which is formed in the decay of radium, may enter a dwelling through its floor or basement walls and accumulate in the indoor air unless the dwelling is well ventilated periodically; occupants of such a dwelling may therefore receive a dose as high as 100 mSv per year in their lungs from inhalation of the entrapped radon and its disintegration products “

Anyway, you now have an official explanation to radiation and its effects (a scientist will be more help than me….I am a political historian and what the Hell do I know about the science side of this?)

We are already finding signs of radiation in the Northwest……but not to worry…it is NOT enough to cause in serious danger…..but what if the plant in Japan goes boom?  Will we, as Americans, need to start worrying then?  Or will we be kept in the dark to add cover to an industry trying to claw its way out from under the happenings in Japan and save its future government subsidies?

So after decades of terrifying young children….we have come to….”We have nothing to fear but fear itself”  (if you recall that was a statement about Japan….go figure)

From Russia With Love

Inkwell Institute

International Studies Group

The big news the other day was that Iran may be close to a deal to ship their enriched Uranium to Turkey for processing….which if true could help eliminate some of the impasse there is in the Iran nuke debate….

The deal was reached in talks with Brazil and Turkey, elevating a new group of mediators for the first time in the dispute over Iran’s nuclear activities. There was no immediate comment from the United States and the other world powers that have led earlier negotiations as to whether the new deal would satisfy them and stave off a fourth round of UN sanctions.

The deal goes to the heart of international concern over Teheran’s nuclear activities. Earlier negotiations led by Germany and the five permanent UN Security Council members — the US, Britain, France, Russia and China — have sought to stop Iran from enriching uranium altogether, and thereby deprive it of a possible pathway to nuclear weapons.

Cool?  Right?  Turkey will be the neutral arbitrator…….really?

That is sort of good news……..but there was other news last week that did not get any attention in the US media…..as reported in the CS Monitor:

Turkey moved closer to becoming a nuclear energy nation after inking a deal with visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to build a nuclear power plant on the Mediterranean coast.

The energy deals are part of NATO-ally Turkey’s broader strategy to expand its influence in the region and become an energy corridor between East and West, while also serving as an increasingly important diplomatic player seeking to help resolve Iran’s nuclear standoff with the West and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This is all so much good news……but is Turkey stable enough or will it become another Pakistan?  What a coincidence!  Turkey cuts a deal with Russia for a nuke plant and the next week they are the big cheese in the Iran stand off over enriched Uranium.  Is Turkey capable of play this important roll?  What the rise in Muslim fundamentalism in Turkey?

Sorry, this does not pass the sniff test!

There Is NO Nuke Waste

I try to give both sides of a story and here is the other side of the nuke story I did about the Obama decision on nuke waste.

This is from an article in the WSJ:

So is this material “waste”? Absolutely not. Ninety-five percent of a spent fuel rod is plain old U-238, the nonfissionable variety that exists in granite tabletops, stone buildings and the coal burned in coal plants to generate electricity. Uranium-238 is 1% of the earth’s crust. It could be put right back in the ground where it came from.

Of the remaining 5% of a rod, one-fifth is fissionable U-235 — which can be recycled as fuel. Another one-fifth is plutonium, also recyclable as fuel. Much of the remaining three-fifths has important uses as medical and industrial isotopes. Forty percent of all medical procedures in this country now involve some form of radioactive isotope, and nuclear medicine is a $4 billion business. Unfortunately, we must import all our tracer material from Canada, because all of our isotopes have been headed for Yucca Mountain.

The supposed problem of “nuclear waste” is entirely the result of a the decision in 1976 by President Gerald Ford to suspend reprocessing, which President Jimmy Carter made permanent in 1977. The fear was that agents of foreign powers or terrorists groups would steal plutonium from American plants to manufacture bombs.

That fear has proved to be misguided. If foreign powers want a bomb, they will build their own reactors or enrichment facilities, as North Korea and Iran have done. The task of extracting plutonium from highly radioactive material and fashioning it into a bomb is far beyond the capacities of any terrorist organization.

Mr. Tucker must have missed the report:

Some granite countertops contain levels of uranium high enough to be dangerous to humans, said Rice professor W.J. Llope.

Using a spectrometer, Llope tested 25 varieties of granite bought from Houston-area dealers. In some cases, he said, he found countertops that could expose homeowners to 100 millirems of radiation in just a few months — the annual exposure limit set by the Department of Energy for visitors to nuclear labs.

A pretty good article by William Tucker….but I ask….at what cost?  I think it would have been a better article if he would have given us the start up costs of recycling the spent rods and then the cost of storage of what is left.  Just my thought.

What To Do With Nuke Waste?

If you recall the waning days of the last election, energy was all the rage and McCain was hell bent on the building of more and more nuke plants.  It was billed as a “clean energy”.   And at that time I was involved in an exchange on why I was opposed to the expansion of nukes.  Yes, it is an almost emissions free industry, but my question was then as it is now…what to do with nuke waste?

President Obama’s proposed budget all but kills the Yucca Mountain project, the controversial Nevada site where the U.S. nuclear industry’s spent fuel rods were to spend eternity. There are no other plans in the works, so for now the waste will remain next to Zion and 103 other reactors scattered across the country.

Obama has said there are too many questions about whether storing waste at Yucca Mountain is safe. His decision fulfills a campaign promise, but it also renews nagging questions about what should be done with the radioactive waste steadily accumulating in 35 states.

During his confirmation hearings, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the waste could safely remain at nuclear plants while another plan is worked out. Reversing course from previous administrations satisfies critics in Nevada, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, but triggers another round of political maneuvering and regional bickering in Congress.
More than 57,000 tons of spent fuel rods already are stored next to reactors, just a few yards from containment buildings where they once generated nuclear-heated steam to drive massive electrical turbines.

The lack of a permanent solution poses a serious challenge to the industry’s plans to build more than 30 new reactors. Existing nuclear plants produce 2,000 tons of the long-lived waste each year, most of which is moved into pools of chilled water that allow the spent — but still highly lethal — uranium-235 to slowly and safely decay. Uranium-235 has a half-life of nearly 704 million years — meaning that half its atoms will decay in that time.

But containment pools never were intended to store all of the spent fuel that a reactor creates. The idea was that the cool water would stabilize the enriched uranium until it could be sent to a reprocessing plant or stored in a centralized location.

Instead, it keeps piling up. Although industry officials insist the waste is safely stored in fenced-off buildings lined with concrete and lead, there are concerns that a leak or a terrorist attack could create an environmental catastrophe. Many of the nation’s nuclear plants are close to highly populated areas or next to bodies of water.

Obama has taken a high road here….but my question still stands….What To Do With Nuke Waste?