3 ms·

Hmmm, wonder if this could be used for enrichment too? If so, that would get all sorts of people looking at it. Not all of the friendly variety either.

PaulHoule 3y ago
It's one of those science-fiction adjacent technologies people have been talking about since at least the 1970s which manifests in this practical form https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_torch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_torch That wikipedia article doesn't really go into it but that kind of thing can eat PFAS and other "indestructible" toxics and potentially some advanced civilization could toss all of their waste into one and recycle the chemical elements. The thing is the worst components of spent fuel are Cesium and Iodine which are close in atomic mass and the potentially reusable U, Pu and maybe Th are again fairly alone in the mass spectrum and you don't necessarily have to separate those for recycle either. You need a lot more precision though if you want to separate out U or Pu isotopes and I think you still need a big-ass Calutron for that. That issue of that MDPI journal had some other articles about reprocessing too, like some French scientists figured out how to tune up established aqueous reprocessing so it didn't use volatile organic compounds for instance.
- rapjr9 3y ago
  No longer science fiction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_gasification https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_gasification https://news.mit.edu/2021/inentec-turning-trash-into-valuable-chemical-products-clean-fuels-0106 https://news.mit.edu/2021/inentec-turning-trash-into-valuabl... "The US Navy is employing Plasma Arc Waste Destruction System (PAWDS) on its latest generation Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier. The compact system being used will treat all combustible solid waste generated on board the ship."

3 ms·

Hmmm, wonder if this could be used for enrichment too? If so, that would get all sorts of people looking at it. Not all of the friendly variety either.

by justinclift 3y ago

PaulHoule 3y ago
It's one of those science-fiction adjacent technologies people have been talking about since at least the 1970s which manifests in this practical form https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_torch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_torch That wikipedia article doesn't really go into it but that kind of thing can eat PFAS and other "indestructible" toxics and potentially some advanced civilization could toss all of their waste into one and recycle the chemical elements. The thing is the worst components of spent fuel are Cesium and Iodine which are close in atomic mass and the potentially reusable U, Pu and maybe Th are again fairly alone in the mass spectrum and you don't necessarily have to separate those for recycle either. You need a lot more precision though if you want to separate out U or Pu isotopes and I think you still need a big-ass Calutron for that. That issue of that MDPI journal had some other articles about reprocessing too, like some French scientists figured out how to tune up established aqueous reprocessing so it didn't use volatile organic compounds for instance.
- rapjr9 3y ago
  No longer science fiction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_gasification https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_gasification https://news.mit.edu/2021/inentec-turning-trash-into-valuable-chemical-products-clean-fuels-0106 https://news.mit.edu/2021/inentec-turning-trash-into-valuabl... "The US Navy is employing Plasma Arc Waste Destruction System (PAWDS) on its latest generation Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier. The compact system being used will treat all combustible solid waste generated on board the ship."