From: "alexander koryagin" <koryagin@erec.ru>

F2EP
Hi, Roy Witt! How are you?
on Wednesday, 10 of October, I read your message to alexander koryagin
about "fuel"

years. Is it possible to guarantee that nothing will have happened
with these dirty boxes for thousands of years?

I've often wondered why we don't send spent uranium fuel to the sun,
for immediate depletion of all radioactivity upon arrival.

Do you remember what a row we have on Earth when somebody tries to
launch a rocket with atomic generator inside?

I didn't know that was even attempted.

I heard of it many times. Almost all far space missions have Plutonium generator inside - the Sun is too weak at great distances. The most usable isotope Plutonium 239 beside its radioactivity (a half-decay is almost 25000 years) is a very toxic material.

The reason is clear - there is a probability that the rocket will
fail and we'll get a radioactive contamination.

Not necessarily.

Yes, the probability is low, but there were some precedents. For instance, one soviet military space apparatus with atomic reactor fell in Canada and contaminated some area. I.e. the danger is not only during the launch - nobody can guarantee that such an apparatus will not go out of control after the successful launch. In this case it can flop down in any place, even in New York.

The situation will be worse if we an accident happens with a rocket
carrying extremely radioactive isotopes that we get after using U235
fuel. Probably there is only one solution

Perhaps two.

- we must build plants to restore U235 fuel; all the work must be
done by robots capable to work in a(?) highly radioactive
environment.

Why even store it?

Because it is almost a endless fuel. I.e. after having used a fuel U235 rod, we clear the fuel up and it is usable again! The problem is that in every fuel rod we use just a few per cent of U235 that is there. Practically, it the same situation as if we fill 100 liters of gas in a fuel tank and then throw it out after spending just a few liters, because of the feed pipe becomes clogged.

The best solution would be to neutralize the radioactivity to a level
that can safely be handled.

If we reprocess all spent fuel from atomic plants we will reduce amount of radioactive waste very significantly. BTW, all places where spent U235 fuel is stored are real Klondikes if a country can clear up the atomic fuel. Western countries spend enormous money to get rid off of spent fuel. But some country can clear it and sell it back.

[...The probabilty of crime in the country is in direct proportion
to amount of the police]

...Crime is in direct proportion to the number of crooks not in
jail.

in jail for life? ;)

Only if they're capable of working toward their own cost of keeping
them.

But how to make them to work if they don't want to? Stalin in the USSR did it using very harsh means, but how to do it in a democratic way?

[...If a person barks at people he lives as a dog, too]
Bye Roy!
Alexander (yAlexKo[]yandex.ru) + 2:5020/2140.91
fido7.english-tutor 2012



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