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The amount of radioactive scrap produced by hypothetical decommissioned radioactive fusion containment vessels is laughably trivial compared to fission waste st
by greenavocado 1y ago
The amount of radioactive scrap produced by hypothetical decommissioned radioactive fusion containment vessels is laughably trivial compared to fission waste streams. Even accounting for the most pessimistic irradiation models of first-wall materials, the total radioactive burden remains orders of magnitude below legacy technologies.
The half-lives of such activated components like predominantly steel alloys and ceramic composites trend dramatically shorter than actinide-laden spent fuel, with activity levels plummeting to background within mere decades rather than geological timescales. This makes waste management a single-generation engineering challenge rather than a multi-millennial obligation
- pfdietz 1y agoThe long term activity of the waste is certainly lower, but the volume of the waste is likely much higher. And much of the cost is driven by volume, not activity.
- markvdb 1y agoAs a species, we're spectacularly bad at negative externalities. We are also very bad at anything very long term. We've hardly pulled off any physical project to last more than one generation recently. We barely invest in any. The winning energy tech of the future better have as little negative externalities as possible, especially long term ones.