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radioactive waste from firing

updated sun 6 jun 99

 

Jeff Lawrence on wed 26 may 99

Lee in Saint Paul, Minnesota USA wrote:
> Part of my electricity comes from nuclear powerplants. This
>type of energy is the dirtiest of them all.
>
Hi Lee,

I applaud your position, which is to take responsibility for your actions
and put your money where your mouth is. However, I don't believe the above
is accurate.

My understanding is that coal-fired power plants release significantly more
pollution (including radioactivite elements) into the air than nuclear
power plants. The nuke plants are monitored heavily for radioactive
emission while the conventional ones are not (since the radioactive
elements are already in the coal, the plants are just taking away
everything but the combustion gases which still contain them). I believe
that the principal pollution caused by nuclear power plants is thermal
pollution from hot coolant putting heat into the environment. Any nuclear
engineers out there with some harder data?

If, however, you are saying in a poetic manner that you don't like nukes,
that's a horse of a different feather.

Best regards from Los Alamos, where the sports teams used to be the
Atomics, and the high school logo was a mushroom cloud.
Jeff

Jeff Lawrence Sun Dagger Design
jml@sundagger.com Rt. 3 Box 220
www.sundagger.com Espanola, NM 87532
vox 505-753-5913 fax 505-753-8074

Kenneth D. Westfall on thu 27 may 99

I think you may have over looked the fact that the half life for all the
waste from nuclear power plants is going to be longer than what the great
pyramids have been around to date. I will take my chances with burning coal
and natural gas for power generating. We could though be all better off if
we spent more time using solar energy then burning, splitting and fusing
the worlds atoms. Just my humble opinion.

Kenneth D. Westfall
Pine Hill Pottery
R.D. #2 Box 6AA
Harrisville, WV 26362
pinehill@ruralnet.org
http://www.ruralnet.org/pinehillpottery

Alex Wilson on fri 28 may 99

Hello Jeff, I'm not a nuclear (pron. nucular by many) engineer, but I can't
help but believe that the tons of spent fuel rod waste with a half-life of
something like 24,000 years lying around in concrete drums at Sellafield and
at the bottom of a trench just off the coast of Eire, are just a bit more
dangerous than the tiny amounts you were referring to.
There's a price to pay for everything and sooner or later, the bailiffs will
be at all our doors.
Of course eventually, all the uranium will turn into lead and then we'll all
be happy again.
Cheers mate,

Alex, Firing electric and not thinking too hard about the consequences of my
actions - How can I, living in America? :)

Ernesto Burciaga on sat 29 may 99

Jeff

From the mid 50's when I arrived in Los Alamos the High School logo was
the Toppers or Hill Toppers and of course the mascot was a top hat.
Although the local semi-pro baseball team was called the Bombers.

One of the major pollution sources from coal fired power plants is
indeed radioactive. I'm told that the way to find coal deposits is
looking for higher amounts of radon and other radioactive stuff, ie
uranium. Much of the time coal deposits run along uranium.

So

Ernesto


Lana Reeves on sat 29 may 99

Hi Alex, Jeff, & everyone else on this thread. We ARE doing something else
with a lot of our nuclear waste. Called "depleted uranium," it is used by
the military as part of the explosive in shells to increase their ability to
pierce tanks, concrete bunkers, etc. Was used in Iraq, and at this moment,
in Serbia/Kosova. Nice, huh? I know this is pretty far removed from the
subject of clay. Just brought it up because I tend to get smug at times,
thinking how enlightened & conscientious I am about the environment. Then I
realize that as long as I am part of this world at this point in it's
history, I am to some degree participating in the destructive madness. I do
the best I can, but I haven't turned off my electricity, some of which comes
from a nuke. I haven't stopped driving my car, or doing a lot of things
that contribute to the ecological mess. And I continue to fire in many
different ways: electric, gas, and raku, and whenever I have an opportunity,
wood &/or salt. I think I'd give up the car before I quit firing!

Lana in Somerville, MA
kilnkat@rcn.com =^..^=
"where cats & clay collide"

-----Original Message-----
From: Alex Wilson
To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
Date: Friday, May 28, 1999 8:42 AM
Subject: Re: radioactive waste from firing


>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Hello Jeff, I'm not a nuclear (pron. nucular by many) engineer, but I can't
>help but believe that the tons of spent fuel rod waste with a half-life of
>something like 24,000 years lying around in concrete drums at Sellafield
and
>at the bottom of a trench just off the coast of Eire, are just a bit more
>dangerous than the tiny amounts you were referring to.
>There's a price to pay for everything and sooner or later, the bailiffs
will
>be at all our doors.
>Of course eventually, all the uranium will turn into lead and then we'll
all
>be happy again.
>Cheers mate,
>
>Alex, Firing electric and not thinking too hard about the consequences of
my
>actions - How can I, living in America? :)



James Blossom on sat 5 jun 99

Hi Jeff,

Coal fired plants release at least 1000 X the radioactives of Nuke plants
according to studies I have seen (sorry, no references,) and the Sierra Club
endorced Nukes a few years back due to that and reduced damage due to
less mining and waste heat. The problem is release of Uranium daughters
trapped in the coal (radium, etc.) . These tend to be heavier than air and
travel down from the stacks to the ground. (In your area along the Raging
Rio Grand Valley right into Espanola and La Cuidad Royal de la Santa Fe
del San Fransisco de Assisi. Regards from a former Hill Topper (sports
team..
no letter) & friend of the garrage band " The Atomics"

Mike Blossom
Sleeping Dog Designs
Albuquerque, N.M.

"Oppie, now were all sons of a bitches."
--- Kenneth Bainbridge

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Lawrence
To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
Date: Wednesday, May 26, 1999 10:37 AM
Subject: radioactive waste from firing


----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Lee in Saint Paul, Minnesota USA wrote:
> Part of my electricity comes from nuclear powerplants. This
>type of energy is the dirtiest of them all.
>
Hi Lee,

I applaud your position, which is to take responsibility for your actions
and put your money where your mouth is. However, I don't believe the above
is accurate.

My understanding is that coal-fired power plants release significantly more
pollution (including radioactivite elements) into the air than nuclear
power plants. The nuke plants are monitored heavily for radioactive
emission while the conventional ones are not (since the radioactive
elements are already in the coal, the plants are just taking away
everything but the combustion gases which still contain them). I believe
that the principal pollution caused by nuclear power plants is thermal
pollution from hot coolant putting heat into the environment. Any nuclear
engineers out there with some harder data?

If, however, you are saying in a poetic manner that you don't like nukes,
that's a horse of a different feather.

Best regards from Los Alamos, where the sports teams used to be the
Atomics, and the high school logo was a mushroom cloud.
Jeff

Jeff Lawrence Sun Dagger Design
jml@sundagger.com Rt. 3 Box 220
www.sundagger.com Espanola, NM 87532
vox 505-753-5913 fax 505-753-8074