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I'm reminded of the synthetic diamond process [1] and the industrial demand for perfect diamonds, cut to order exceeded the perfection nature's diamond mines co

I'm reminded of the synthetic diamond process [1] and the industrial demand for perfect diamonds, cut to order exceeded the perfection nature's diamond mines could never deliver. So with todays digital technology, instead of the analogue world of the 1920's, it would seem the Fischer-Tropsch[2] process has every chance of succeeding on an undustrial scale, bringing vehicle fuel to inhospital regions of the planet, and yet the nuclear industry with notably scaled down nuclear reactors or Small Modular Reactors [3] could be the saviour of the automotive sector, something the Germans have experience of as well, if stuxnet [4] and Iran are anything to go by. I still dont know why we dont bury nuclear waste using a convergent boundary [5] from plate tectonics. Its all ultimately come from core of this planet, why not return it to the core for the ultimate form of recycling, like much of our landfill waste, and man made waste. I sometimes think environmentalists and politicians want us to live in our waste. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_diamond#High_pressure,_high_temperature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_diamond#High_pressur... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer%E2%80%93Tropsch_process https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer%E2%80%93Tropsch_proces... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_modular_reactor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_modular_reactor [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuxnet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuxnet [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convergent_boundary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convergent_boundary

deleted 4y ago
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magic_hamster 4y ago
This is the first time I hear this idea to use convergent boundaries to bury anything. It's interesting! However, to my layman understanding, when discussing nuclear waste we need to be precise. If the containers break or leak in an undesirable place (or depth) without us having any access to it or being able to fix it, I imagine it could become quite the catastrophe. And the pressure and sheer power tectonic plates can apply, to my understanding, far exceeds anything we can build. So how is it possible to safely bury radioactive waste in convergent boundaries?
- PaulHoule 4y ago
  A sustainable nuclear fuel cycle would recycle the transuranic wastes, like Plutonium, which are valuable fuels. In this way they would unlock a vast multiple (50x or so) of energy out of uranium and the resulting fission product waste would decay to less than natural uranium in 1000 years or so. The problem of building structures that last 1000 years is well within our experience.
  - moremetadata 4y ago
    > The problem of building structures that last 1000 years is well within our experience. I read the news to see controlling human behaviour still isnt.
- _2uwr 4y ago
  Do you think the Oil industry have learnt a thing or two when drilling deep into the ground to get oil out? The nuclear fuel rods can easily passing inside an oil rigs drilling pipes. They have to pump salt water into underground wells as crude floats on top and they use this pumped salt water pressure to extract the last drops of crude. The fracking industry have also learnt a thing or two ironically as well! This gives a good example of what is happening deep underground. https://inthecompanyofvolcanoes.blogspot.com/2019/08/contents-under-pressure.html https://inthecompanyofvolcanoes.blogspot.com/2019/08/content... https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780128113011/magmas-under-pressure#book-description https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780128113011/magmas-unde... At best, it would be like using a dye in water before it goes into a underground cave system in order to trace where it comes out, but the timescales might just be appropriate for the radioactive decay of said material. TLDR, if the plate is convergent, what could go wrong?

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

magic_hamster 4y ago

This is the first time I hear this idea to use convergent boundaries to bury anything. It's interesting! However, to my layman understanding, when discussing nuclear waste we need to be precise. If the containers break or leak in an undesirable place (or depth) without us having any access to it or being able to fix it, I imagine it could become quite the catastrophe. And the pressure and sheer power tectonic plates can apply, to my understanding, far exceeds anything we can build. So how is it possible to safely bury radioactive waste in convergent boundaries?

PaulHoule 4y ago
A sustainable nuclear fuel cycle would recycle the transuranic wastes, like Plutonium, which are valuable fuels. In this way they would unlock a vast multiple (50x or so) of energy out of uranium and the resulting fission product waste would decay to less than natural uranium in 1000 years or so. The problem of building structures that last 1000 years is well within our experience.
- moremetadata 4y ago
  > The problem of building structures that last 1000 years is well within our experience. I read the news to see controlling human behaviour still isnt.
_2uwr 4y ago
Do you think the Oil industry have learnt a thing or two when drilling deep into the ground to get oil out? The nuclear fuel rods can easily passing inside an oil rigs drilling pipes. They have to pump salt water into underground wells as crude floats on top and they use this pumped salt water pressure to extract the last drops of crude. The fracking industry have also learnt a thing or two ironically as well! This gives a good example of what is happening deep underground. https://inthecompanyofvolcanoes.blogspot.com/2019/08/contents-under-pressure.html https://inthecompanyofvolcanoes.blogspot.com/2019/08/content... https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780128113011/magmas-under-pressure#book-description https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780128113011/magmas-unde... At best, it would be like using a dye in water before it goes into a underground cave system in order to trace where it comes out, but the timescales might just be appropriate for the radioactive decay of said material. TLDR, if the plate is convergent, what could go wrong?