Byron Jeff wrote:
> On Fri, Feb 29, 2008 at 03:21:59AM -0500, wouter van ooijen wrote:
>   
>>> The difference between naturally occurring radioactive
>>> materials and nuke waste is ONLY in terms of the level of
>>> radiation coming out of it.
>>>       
>> Dunno what 'nuke waste' is (waste after an exploding nuke?), I was
>> talkinmg about what's left of the fuel rods after their lifetime. That
>> stuff is *very* different from natural uranium ore, for a starter it is
>> chemically different: there is a significant amount of plutonium in it.
>>     
>
> Actually there isn't going to be. All fuel rods would be reprocessed and
> all of the useful fuel would be put back into new fuel rods.
>
> According to this site:
>
> http://www.uic.com.au/wast.htm
>
> Only 3% of the rod is actual waste and the other 97% (depleted uranium
> mixed with plutonium) would be extracted and reused.
>
>   
>>> It actually has less total radiation over time. Some of the
>>> materials are producing a higher RATE of radiation, but they
>>> have a shorter half life, so over all, they will produce less
>>> total energy than the original substance.
>>>       
>> Again I doubt if this is true, but for the sake of argument let's accept
>> it for now. So the radiation which would otherwise occur over a very
>> long time is now concentrated in let's say a few 100 years. I don't
>> think the people living in those few 100 years will like that.
>>     
>
> I would agree with you if the waste were made into a statue that was placed
> in a open public park. But when buried under hundreds of meters of solid
> rock, the residual radiation effect is minimal. That's why the EPA's
> estimate for Yucca Mountain for the first 10,000 years was so important,
> because virtually all of the highly radioactive waste products would have
> decayed by then.
>
> BAJ
>   

My main objection to nuclear power is simply that it seems obvious to me 
and many others that capturing
solar energy to generate electricity would result in minimal damage to 
anything. And we wouldn't even NEED
a Yucca Mtn.

But I am one of a few persons spitting against a hurricane, and its 
pretty obvious that nuclear will win in the
end.

--Bob A
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