3 ms·

Low-level radioactive waste is not really big a problem. It does not pose any significant risk to anyone or anything. High-level waste is the problem.

lokimedes 5y ago
And luckily the level of radioactivity is inversely proportional with the half-life. The hotter it burn, the faster it decay.
yencabulator 5y ago
There are towns around Utah and elsewhere in the US, with very high cancer rates from open-air uranium/vanadium/etc mining, and working in the mines. I've visited this place and they have like historical monuments dedicated to the handling of the health issues: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monticello,_Utah#Uranium_mining https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monticello,_Utah#Uranium_minin...
logifail 5y ago
> Low-level radioactive waste is not really big a problem. It does not pose any significant risk to anyone or anything At some abstract factual level that claim may not be [that] wrong, but I'm not convinced that statements such as that help promote the nuclear cause.
- user-the-name 5y ago
  Nothing abstract about it. Low-level waste is really not dangerous.
  - teachrdan 5y ago
    That's not necessarily the case. In Europe after Chernobyl, radioactivity accumulated in cow's milk via grass contaminated with strontium. Children were particularly at risk because strontium is absorbed into growing bones in a similar manner to calcium. Even a low-level of radioactivity in that context can be harmful. https://hidex.com/ebooks/liquid-scintillation-measuring-procedures/measuring-procedures/radionuclides-from-nuclear-fission-activities/2-3-4-strontium-in-milk/ https://hidex.com/ebooks/liquid-scintillation-measuring-proc... https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(96)76532-3/pdf#:~:text=The%20present%20study%20evaluated%20after,monthly%20from%201987%20to%201994.&text=Based%20on%20this%20result%2C%20the,of%2010%2C410%20d%20for%20goSr https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(96)....
  - logifail 5y ago
    I (believe I) appreciate the physics of that claim ... but why do we bother collecting it and handling it separately?

lokimedes 5y ago

And luckily the level of radioactivity is inversely proportional with the half-life. The hotter it burn, the faster it decay.

yencabulator 5y ago

There are towns around Utah and elsewhere in the US, with very high cancer rates from open-air uranium/vanadium/etc mining, and working in the mines. I've visited this place and they have like historical monuments dedicated to the handling of the health issues: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monticello,_Utah#Uranium_mining https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monticello,_Utah#Uranium_minin...

logifail 5y ago

> Low-level radioactive waste is not really big a problem. It does not pose any significant risk to anyone or anything At some abstract factual level that claim may not be [that] wrong, but I'm not convinced that statements such as that help promote the nuclear cause.

user-the-name 5y ago
Nothing abstract about it. Low-level waste is really not dangerous.
- teachrdan 5y ago
  That's not necessarily the case. In Europe after Chernobyl, radioactivity accumulated in cow's milk via grass contaminated with strontium. Children were particularly at risk because strontium is absorbed into growing bones in a similar manner to calcium. Even a low-level of radioactivity in that context can be harmful. https://hidex.com/ebooks/liquid-scintillation-measuring-procedures/measuring-procedures/radionuclides-from-nuclear-fission-activities/2-3-4-strontium-in-milk/ https://hidex.com/ebooks/liquid-scintillation-measuring-proc... https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(96)76532-3/pdf#:~:text=The%20present%20study%20evaluated%20after,monthly%20from%201987%20to%201994.&text=Based%20on%20this%20result%2C%20the,of%2010%2C410%20d%20for%20goSr https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(96)....
- logifail 5y ago
  I (believe I) appreciate the physics of that claim ... but why do we bother collecting it and handling it separately?