[TheForge] OT biodiesel

[Todd Rich]

On Thu, 26 May 2005, Peter Fels And Phoebe Palmer wrote:

> Hey Todd:
> What do we do with the waste? Our society won't last as long as it remains 
> deadly..and the volume keeps mounting up....Pete F
>

How much waste do you think it generates?  The amount of nuclear waste 
generated to produce enough power for a family of 4 for 20 years will fit 
in a shoebox.  If they are allowed to reprocess the fuel, the amount of 
waste generated fits in a pill bottle.

The amount of thorium released from burning coal is 12000 metric tons 
annually.  Uranium release from burning coal is 5000 metric tons annually. 
(2000 figures)

All the nuclear waste produced to date will fit in a volume the size of a 
high school gymnasium.

The problem with the waste is the storage, or the technology for storage, 
it is the lawsuits against it.

So I guess it is a question of which you would prefer, breathing the 
isotopes, or having them contained and producing power.

http://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/rev26-34/text/colmain.html

For the numbers on coal.

Source for the nuclear waste volumes was Bill Wattenburg, who was a 
nuclear weapons designer.
 				Todd