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Spent fuel will be dangerous on time scales much greater than recorded history. However, the old reactor compartments primary source of radioactivity is Cobalt
by brandmeyer 12y ago
Spent fuel will be dangerous on time scales much greater than recorded history. However, the old reactor compartments primary source of radioactivity is Cobalt-60, with a half-life of about 5 years. So on time scales on the order of our national history, we should be able to recycle them.
- caf 11y agoIn case anyone is wondering, the Cobalt-60 is produced from Iron by multiple neutron capture and beta decay, in particular Iron-58.
- brandmeyer 11y agoAlso Cobalt-59, which is a commonly used hardening agent in ferrous alloys. In the old days, valve seat wear products were a strong source of radioactive cobalt.