Yes, in-situ leaching. it's another horrifying process. Unfortunately even if done without any 'accidents', mineral precipitation is a problem, and the leachates are toxic waste. And, how are they not introducing anything that isn't already there? What happens to the groundwater? You are right, storage of radioactive waste is a problem, but I don't see how extraction is not a huge problem.
On Jan 20, 2:00 pm, Leslie <leslie.bri...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Jan 20, 12:15 pm, newenglandbike <matthiasbe...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > The trade-off for nuclear power is a legacy of radioactive waste that > > will last for hundreds of thousands of years. Not to mention that > > the mining of uranium is an environmentally catastrophic process, > > displacing roughly 100,000 tons of radioactive rock containing > > thorium, polonium, radium, etc. for every 20-30 tons of uranium, > > contaminating water supplies and the soil with radionuclides. It's > > basically cancer in your drinking water. Mining is powered by fossil > > fuel. The availability of high-grade ore is in the tens of years by > > some estimates. It's not a solution, it's a serious problem. > > > On Jan 20, 11:34 am, zeidler.rob...@gmail.com wrote: > > > A lump of uranium goes a long way.... > > > Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry > > A lot of uranium is now being mined w/o turning a shovel. They > drill a pair of wells, pump fluid down one side of the ore, pump it > back out the other side, with the fluid leeching the uranium out. > (Usually peroxide.) No rock displaced. And, it's not introducing > anything that isn't already there.... it doesn't put the uranium, or > thorium, etc., into the ground... > > IMHO, the biggest problem is, it's cheaper to get more uranium than it > is to reprocess the spent fuel. They 'could' reprocess it, and > recover, maybe upwards of 75%, for further use as nuclear fuel; it > just costs more than getting more. So, they end up w/ quantities of > spent fuel, that has to be put somewhere. That's the issue. Unless > they can figure out how to convert that into stable arborium for > Kevlar, or something else useful, instead of sitting around in glass > or being shipped off to Yucca Mtn, well... > > FWIW -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
