When do we get the next one?

  • ⚡⚡⚡@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    I don’t think that you realize what can happen in thousands of years.

    BTW, it’s not me who brought up the question. There is an interesting article about it: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200731-how-to-build-a-nuclear-warning-for-10000-years-time

    And also a wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_nuclear_waste_warning_messages

    they’re a few barrels across years

    Germany alone expects it to be 10.500 tons until 2080. And that’s only the “highly radioactive” part. That’s more than a few barrels. And there are more countries on this planet than just the one I’m from…

    https://www.bge.de/de/abfaelle/aktueller-bestand/

    • Umbrias@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      I’m well aware of the hazards communication projects. Not really relevant to deep salt storage.

      Thousands of years is nothing across geologic time scales.

      Yeah 11 tons is literally nothing. That’s only 575 m^3 of uranium.

      That’s a third by mass of the average single German households trash production across the same time period. And it’s more dense, so less volume.

      • ⚡⚡⚡@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        sorry for the confusion. It’s of course not 11 tons. It’s 11,000 (11k) tons. Germany uses the dot as a “thousands separator”.

        Not really relevant to deep salt storage.

        Well, I disagree with that. We can simply not imagine what happens in 10k years or how the planet looks in 10k years. And being sure that none of the many “final” storage places will be opened in the future is naive…

        BTW, in 10k years, your grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-children will live on this planet.

        • Umbrias@beehaw.org
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          1 year ago

          Ah. Even so, that’s less than the trash output of 1000 citizens. The quantity of waste is not very worrisome to me at all, especially considering all the other possible hazardous wastes from other industrial processes.

          • ⚡⚡⚡@feddit.de
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            1 year ago

            Ah. Even so, that’s less than the trash output of 1000 citizens

            It’s just one country (BTW: one that spent much money looking for a final storage for decades and has not yet found it).

            And to be honest: I’d feel better living in a country without the 11k tons of it and don’t agree with that that’s just nothing.

            You say, it’s not much, I say, it’s too much. Yes, you can compare it with 11k tons of trash or 11k tons of poop or salt or feathers to make it look less dangerous, but it’s still 11k tons of highly radioactive waste.

            • Umbrias@beehaw.org
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              1 year ago

              Right. Across eighty years. Our current methods are genuinely good, and can more than meet demand current and future.

              Reprocessing is a more than viable solution, if you feel that demand can’t be met.