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Nearly all of the discussion about what to do with nuclear waste is misplaced (C&EN, Nov. 4, page 24). The problem is not that radioactive waste is left over from nuclear reactors, it is that we have chosen a business model where we want to bury 97% of the nuclear material as waste instead of burning it for energy. If we burned all the nuclear material possible for energy, the amount of waste generated would be small enough to keep at the reactor and to be entombed at the end of the reactor’s life cycle.
Nov. 25, page 5: The news story about the ACS elections should have stated that Kathleen M. Schulz, president of Business Results, ran as an incumbent for director-at-large and was reelected.
Concerns about security of bomb-grade fuel could be addressed by locating all reactors at the center of military reservations far from population centers—and complete with fighter jets, SWAT teams with helicopters, and enough fire power to repel an invasion. Throwing away 97% of our energy and using our military might to create and exacerbate foreign affairs problems overseas are two of the stupidest things imaginable. Both could be fixed at a stroke.
Mark Williams
Seven Valleys, Pa.
I am just so weary of hearing about where to store nuclear waste. Most of the decisions are being made by politicians who could not tell the difference between an electron and an elephant even if you gave them a tape measure.
If they want to find a structure that will stand the test of time, then look at the Neolithic Cairn de Barnénez in France. If that engineering is too old to consider, then study the Egyptian pyramids—they have been around for more than 4,000 years.
How much time are they looking for to bring these isotopes to safe levels? Who is it that is afraid to make a decision? Next I will be hearing someone in Washington, D.C., expressing concern with the radioactivity in Earth’s mantle; after all, it is only 60 miles beneath us.
Gary J. Banuk
Hanson, Mass.
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