Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/02/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I have just returned from a voyage into northern Europe ............... beauty of image, language, people ...... and an intense desire to return to the light and waters of the country of **,000 lakes, with maybe a tack-on to the Hermitage and Estonia. Thank you for opening your site to me, Raimo. B. On 2-feb-2006, at 17:17, Raimo K wrote: > How can used stuff have more radiation than unused? If it had, it > would be usable. > OK, it is concentrated into granules but if you store it deep in > stable rock caves (like we plan to do in Finland) and take into > account the immense mass of stone around the storage I see no way > it can have increased radiation compared with hot uranium mines. > All the best! > Raimo K > Personal photography homepage at: > http://www.uusikaupunki.fi/~raikorho > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Douglas Sharp" > <douglas.sharp@gmx.de> > To: "Leica Users Group" <lug@leica-users.org> > Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2006 12:51 AM > Subject: Re: [Leica] RE: LUG Digest, Vol 31, Issue 221 > > >> Hello Frank, >> the refined stuff has a much higher radiation output than the ores >> - think of tiny granules of uranium mixed in with great chunks of >> rock which, at least partially stop the radiation, and, btw, make >> uranium mines so hot. >> There is one method of sealing nuclear waste which is effective as >> far as it goes, sealing it in glass with a large proportion of >> lead (which doesn't shield from radiation, it absorbs it and >> changes over time) this has again the inherent problem of heat, >> the energy has to come out somewhere. Before somebody suggests >> dropping it into volcanos, the molten lava is much too close to >> the surface, getting sprayed with molten rock is bad enough, but >> making it radioactive too is a bit much. >> >> As to the plastics, there are some fascinating developments on the >> way with high quality plastics made from potato starches and waste >> straw from maize crops, then there's always multitudes of natural >> vegetable oils which haven't really been tested for making the >> polymers we need for plastics. >> The power of biological products can be seen in the recipe for >> casein glue - just mix curds and chalk - one of the best and >> oldest glues there is. >> The energy business is going to become one of the main areas for >> the development of genetically modified plant strains, the other >> area is the creation of bacteria which can reduce waste plastics >> to their original source materials - but that is a pandora's box I >> don't care to think about - just let a bacterium like that get >> out of hand or mutated and start chewing up plastics just where it >> shouldn't, I shudder at the thought. >> It's interesting that most of the large oil companies are working >> very hard in this direction, particularly Shell and BP, they want >> to have the market cornered when the time is ripe. There was a >> research project for loosening up heavy oil deposits in a >> reservoir by dropping anaerobic bacteria down through the >> borehole, but I left the business before hearing more about it. >> The last stuff I was working on was the localisation of deep >> seated magma bodies for geothermal energy production in Tuscany >> (Larderello,where they've been doing it since the early 1920s) my >> theory for variations in their heat production was that these >> bodies are also subject to tidal forces caused by the position of >> the moon pulling them closer to the surface, unfortunately I never >> did hear what came of that either. At least there was a >> significant increase in microseismicity (tiny earth tremors) at >> full moon, which seems to support my theory. >> To get back on track, the visit to ENEL GreenPower in Pisa was a >> wonderful opportunity to wander around that beautiful city with a >> camera. >> cheers >> Douglas >> >> Frank Dernie wrote: >> >>> Douglas, >>> I have always wanted to ask a specialist this question, and it >>> looks like you may just be the person......... >>> What is wrong with burying nuclear waste in the exhausted mines >>> from which it originated? Presumably it won't be any more >>> dangerous there than the raw nuclear material originally mined???? >>> The biggest concern I have re oil is not its use as a fuel, that >>> seems a terrible waste to me, but as the raw material for >>> manufacturing materials such as plastics for which we have no >>> reasonable alternative. >>> Frank >>> >>> On 1 Feb, 2006, at 19:30, Douglas Sharp wrote: >>> >>>> The technologiy is clean enough, and close to being as safe as >>>> it can be - the problem is still nuclear waste. As a production >>>> and exploration geophysicist I've worked on nuclear waste >>>> storage sites, working and prospective, in Germany, Belgium, >>>> Switzerland and a few other places. For the long-term storage >>>> of nuclear waste there is NO really safe solution, that stuff >>>> stays highly radioactive on a geological time scale. >>>> Salt dome caverns are no good - salt moves and migrates so >>>> you've never got a constant thickness shielding your waste, the >>>> Swiss solution of putting it in caverns blasted out of native >>>> impervious (supposedly) rocks is better but radiactive gases >>>> (Radon for example) always manage to find a way to the surface. >>>> The Belgian method of hiding it under a thin layer of >>>> impervious clay isn't a long term solution either. >>>> So what do we do with it? Shooting it into the sun is the only >>>> real way of getting rid of it, there's been enough dropped into >>>> the sea and more than enough buried already, these "fly-dumps" >>>> will take their revenge on the environment one of theses days. >>>> You say that present day technologies are safe, I agree - >>>> problem is, even the most recent reactors just haven't been >>>> built with these new technologies, Temsvar in the Czech >>>> Republic is one of the newest NPSs >>>> and is just not safe, the same applies to the latest French >>>> reactors, Germany's reactors have been plagued with problems >>>> and Sellafield in the UK is a dirty word already. No need to >>>> mention reactors in the former soviet block countries....... >>>> >>>> Fusion power is pie-in-the-sky (unless the billions for defence >>>> are re-channeled), you might just as well try a further >>>> development of Nikolaus Tesla's idea by building orbiting >>>> spaceborne solar power stations transmitting power as high >>>> energy microwave frequencies back to earth, though I dread to >>>> think what would happen if a plane flew through one of those >>>> tight banded transmissions. >>>> The only clean options are terrestrial solar energy farms, >>>> wind and tidal energy and geothermal energy - these are the >>>> only future I can see in power production. >>>> >>>> Some of the latest developments reek of science fiction but >>>> could be effective - half mile high chimneys set up in desert >>>> regions, the temperature differential between ground level and >>>> the top creates winds of incredible velocities, all you have to >>>> do is put aturbine in the way of it. Using waste energy (off >>>> peak production is always too high and just gets wasted) from >>>> conventional power stations to pump water into high level >>>> reservoirs >>>> to run hydroelectric turbines at peak demand times, storing >>>> energy as compressed air in salt domes is another option, use >>>> it to supply the energy needed to get gas turbines running. >>>> >>>> None of these, however give us any kind of solution for >>>> automotive transport - when the oil runs out we're going to back >>>> with sailing ships and steam engines again, individual or >>>> personal transportation will be the rich man's game. >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Leica Users Group. >>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >>> >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information