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I believe the personal attack in this e-mail is unprofessional
and inappropriate.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, June 01, 2001 10:32
PM
Subject: Re:Subduction zones and
radwaste
Hmmmmmm.........
From: JPreisig@aol.com
.
Hello
Radsafers. Thanks to Ruth Weiner for her reasonable comments about
subduction zones and radwaste.
As for Joe
Alvarez. Hmmmmmm..... I really think you shouldn't take
your 5
year old daughter to lectures on plate tectonics. She's smarter
than
you are!!!! Am I serious??? YUP!!!!
Clearly using subduction zones for radwaste
disposal is a reasonable
idea.
Yes, volume considerations make the
idea attractive. There are a few more
drawbacks to the idea.
Once the waste is emplaced at the subduction zone, if
you can get it
where you want it, human intervention after that will be nearly
impossible. These subduction trenches are very deep. No human
diver will
go there anytime soon and I don't think most robotic
submersibles go there
readily either. If you bust open a radwaste
container down there, there is
little
you can do except cover it up
with dirt or other materials. One busted
container will have little
effect on the whole ocean, right??? I agree.
I
guess the fundamental assumption is that by the time the radwaste is
subducted considerably, all the energetic gamma radionuclides will have
decayed away, leaving just reasonably innocuous long-lived alpha emitters.
I could believe all this.
The problem is
getting the radwaste containers to go into the subduction
zone(s).
Most subduction zones have fairly thick sedimentation layers over
their sea floor opening. I really doubt that the subduction zones
are going
to suck in radwaste containers readily. The radwaste
containers are probably
just going to sit on the ocean bottom for a very
long time without going
anywhere. These are just my beliefs.
Find a marine geologist/geophysicist
(i.e. Bob Ballard or someone
like him) and ask them what really happens
to items placed near subduction
zone openings, and what the time scales are
involved. If the
subduction zone doesn't take the radwaste containers
downward, then you
may as well just throw them on the ocean bottom!!!!
I think we should
reprocess the waste and keep it on the Earth's surface
with us.
I think Mr. Alvarez, you need to spend a few
evenings with some books
on the geology/geophysics of subduction zones.
You might find out where
the volcanic lava, ash, etc. come from.
I won't question your training,
credentials, affiliation, etc. like
that German(???) guy Franz. Just hit the
books a little. I
know you can read. If Bob Ballard isn't available, there
are
plenty of Geoscientists available (to talk to) at URI, Lamont/Doherty,
Scripps,
Stanford, Caltech, Binghamton University, etc.
What really goes down into the Earth during
subduction is the crust that
is
being subducted, or the lithospheric
plate, etc. I guess some radwaste
barrels could fit into gaps and go
downward, but I wouldn't bet on it.
I know at times
I appear like some anti-nuke kook, but that really isn't
the
case.
I did geology/geophysics grad work for a long time after my physics
and health physics training.
Have a good
night, Mr. Alvarez!!!! Best wishes to your daughter....
Joe
Preisig,
Ph.D.
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