Re: Subduction zones and radwaste...

["Thomas J Savin " <tjsav@LYCOS.COM>]

A lead covered steal capsule would handle this quite nicely - weight and pressurized compaction will not lead to unecessary risk.



Enjoy! Tom

---

Tom Savin



On Fri, 1 Jun 2001 15:39:31   

 RuthWeiner wrote:

>It's not the "burping" of subduction zones that is the main concern -- it's 

>getting the waste to, and into, the desired deep-sea location.  The risk of 

>an accident en-route, in which the casks (because more than one would be 

>carried by ship) dropped into an unintended location in the Pacific, is 

>considerably greater than the risk of "burping" (which is probably 

>negligible).  Unless such a drop occurred in fairly shallow water, retrieval 

>could be impossible, and then corrosion and dispersion would eventually put 

>radinuclides from the waste into the food chain.  No, the casks would not be 

>expected to rupture or leak, but eventually the seals, and then the casks, 

>would corrode.

>

>I must also reiterate that a sea voyage of several days with a number of 

>casks on board, that are periodically inspected, does expose the crew.

>

>These problems can be mitigated (though solving the first would be 

>extraordinarily difficult) but then, so can the land disposal problems.

>

>Ruth Weiner, Ph. D.

>ruthweiner@aol.com

>





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