Re:Fukushima Reactor: TEPCO robot aims to extract nuclear fuel
by belorn on Tuesday October 08, 2024 @09:36AM
(#41777227)
Everyone has consistently treated mining waste as an unavoidable side effect of mining, which only economical solution is to dig a whole in the ground and put it there. The only minimum standard that get enforced is that the waste should not leak into the ground water.
Re:Fukushima Reactor: TEPCO robot aims to extract nuclear fuel
by chickenbig on Tuesday October 08, 2024 @10:40AM
(#41777862)
> The only minimum standard that get enforced is that the waste should not leak into the ground water.
In the case of the Asse II mine it is not clear how strongly connected the water at the mine is to water at the surface. Given it is a salt mine I would not expect a strong connection.
> Everyone has consistently treated mining waste as an unavoidable side effect of mining
Yes, there are better and worse ways to dispose of it. Tailings are a huge problem and have caused many a dam disaster. Plainly Difficult Youtube channel dam disasters makes for sobering viewing. https://www.youtube.com/@PlainlyDifficult/playlists
Something I found out recently was that the city of Brussels discharged raw sewage into the rivers until 2007. This from a wealthy city at the heart of the European project.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in...
Radioactive waste disposal is seldom paired with a cost-benefit analysis. Perhaps this is because the benefits are harder to quantify.
Does anyone know how many lives will be saved by spending an estimated 4.7B EUR to commence retrieval of the low and intermediate level waste from the Asse II mine? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asse_II_mine
4.7B EUR could provide humanitarian aid to many around the world, saving lives and enabling yet more to more fully reach their potential.