Russian Waste Repository

[Paul William Shafer <paulwilliam_s@YAHOO.COM>]

Dear Dave:



I really do not think that people on the radsafe

web-site "are manufacturing ways to throw away" the

SMN in spent nuclear fuel and obsolete weapons.  Most

radsafers know that if the federal law were changed to

allow for the SMN to be extracted from the spent fuel

and weapons and essentially made into new enriched

fuel for future loadings of nuclear power plants, that

there would be many more jobs in nuclear engineering,

nuclear technology, radiochemical engineering, health

physics and radiation protection engineering, nuclear

security (safeguards), radio-environmental engineering

etc. created.



This would help increase the numbers of students in

colleges and universities majoring in these highly

technical areas and thus allowing an increase in the

number of faculty employed in these areas.



This of course might be at the cost of some coal

miners, natural gas/oil drillers and transportation

workers in trucking and rail......oh well.



I think it is excellent that so many highly

intelligent people can discuss this on this bbs.  It

would be nice if as a group radsafe could come to some

consensus and present this in writing to the National

Energy Policy Development Group and the key members of

Congress as soon as is reasonably achievable (ASARA).



Just my opinions....



Paul W. Shafer











--- "Dave Andrews Sr." <SHvnDave@SHvn.net> wrote:

> Question:

> 

> Why are all of you so bent on manufacturing ways to

> throw away materials

> whit such great use potential?

> 

> Why should we consider ways to dump this material in

> the ocean, or in

> Russia, or into the "centre of the Earth"  when we

> will eventually figure

> out a way to safely use this material for financial

> gain.

> 

>           The SNM in the fuel is an easy choice for

> continued use.

> 

>           Some of the easier to isolate

> radionuclides cane be purified

>           for specific uses in Labs, and Hospitals,

> and industry.

> 

>           Most of the other nuclides could remain

> mixed, and matriced

>           into a form in which we can recover heat

> (Heat = Steam =

> Electricity).

> 

> Don't throw this material away where our

> grandchildren cannot use it.  Don't

> put it where we will have to deal with uncontrolled

> releases of it sometime

> in the future.

> 

> 

> My own thoughts on the subduction zones - We do not

> have a clue of the earth

> science taking place at subduction zones, nor within

> the mantle of this

> planet.  40 years ago, we started putting Hazardous

> wastes "where it would

> be safe forever" 1200 - 2000 feet below ground. 

> That material is now

> contaminating wells in Michigan and elseware.  Lets

> not make the same

> mistake with "Waste" radionuclides.

> 

> Waste is not material with no further value, it is

> material with

> undiscovered future value.   Think about it!

> 

> 

> There, I feel better.

> 

> 

> Dave Andrews, RSO

> MPI Research

> 



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