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Plutonium has a half-life of 50 k years, and I notice you don't mention strontium.  

Oh--you expect that would be reprocesses out.  Well, in the US it is not, and if you did, then you would have a messy reprocessing plant to deal with.  You say it is clean but that is not reality:  The history of these plants--and its no surprise to anyone familiar with how industry really operates--is that there are always leaks, mishaps and accidents.  

The pyramids were breached in antiquity.  The US did not yet even exist.  So much for containment.  

The Fates are kind.

by Gaianne on Sat Aug 19th, 2006 at 08:17:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Oh boy, now I got into the enviable position of having to educate an American.  How nice...

  • Half life of Pu-239 is 24000 years, the other isotopes are shorter lived.
  • Did you know that the chemical symbol for strontium is Sr?  It has a half life of 28 years.
  • Even without reprocessing, 1000 year old waste is already less dangerous than naturally occuring uranium ore.  You didn't try to read the canadian nuclear FAQ, did you?
  • Pyroprocessing is not messy.  You didn't try to read up on the IFR, did you?
  • You  still didn't tell what radioactive substance was placed in Yucca Mountain 40 years ago.
  • We don't need to defend waste against thieves, because there is no value in it.  We defend against the elements, and the pyramids did that very well.
by ustenzel on Sun Aug 20th, 2006 at 05:20:37 AM EST
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