3 ms·
ELI5: why don’t we eject it to space or send it into the sun?
by unboxingelf 5y ago
ELI5: why don’t we eject it to space or send it into the sun?
- SCUSKU 5y agoSay 1 in 1,000 rockets fails like the challenger and explodes. Now you have spent nuclear waste all over the Earth!
- dclowd9901 5y agoAt the volumes and surface area we’re talking about, is it any more than a blip? Say one rocket explodes. What’s the worst result of that fallout? Is it worse than peeling a banana or flying in a jumbo jet?
- danbruc 5y agoSome fraction of rockets explodes during launch. Also dropping things into the sun costs a lot of energy because you have do decelerate it from earths orbital speed (30 km/s) or whatever you are trying to drop will just orbit around the sun.
- alkonaut 5y agoThe cost is between the same and many times higher, and the risk of explosion in one rocket approaches 100% very quickly when you launch hundreds.
- 00N8 5y agoIt's not cost effective. (Same reason we don't encase it in giant synthetic diamonds or bury it in the earth's mantle) Plus the material is valuable & space launches are dangerous. Launching to space probably introduces more contamination risk than any other option short of intentionally making dirty bombs out of it