Nuclear Legacy :: essays research papers

Nuclear bequest"There is 10 thousand tons of nuclear scourge on Earth." Many scientist arein search for new and efficient slipway to chuck out of these lethal by-productswhich tramp destroy life itself. Radioactive products goat be either beneficial ordevastating. It all depends on how we role them. In the field of medicine, somebenefit from radiation include, radiation therapy for cancer patients. Not all purposes of radiation prove to be beneficial. Many aim the power of the atom fordestructive purposes, introducing an age of nuclear warfare. It doesnt matterif we use radiation for good or bad purposes, they all contri notwithstandinge to the exploitationrate of "unwanted nuclear waste." The issue now is, how do we dispose of thesenuclear wastes?     Scientist have thought of several methods to dispose the nuclear by-products. They act to chemically treat the waste and reuse it, but "that wouldcost a fortune". They thought of l aunching the waste into outer space but it toowill cost a fortune. They tried to dump position filled with nuclear waste intothe ocean but they started leaking. As you can see, there is a great need for anuclear waste organisation site. These sites may sound frightening, but it may bethe solely way for us to dispose the devastation we had longed to create. In 1986,the finality for a nuclear waste depositary proved to be "the most frighteningdecision of the decade." Of these sites, three were chosen to be the "mostsuitable" for the disposal of nuclear by-products. These three sites consistedof Hanford, Washington Yuka Mountain, Nevada and Defsmith, Texas.     Hanford, Washington is a low populated U.S. city, and is own by theDepartment of Energy. A low populated city is an exemplification site for radioactivedisposal. Although the city of Hanford is sparsely populated, geologists fearthe possibility of a nuclear seepage into the Colombia river. The ColumbiaRiver is an important factor for the U.S. production of wheat. "This professs itthe finish up of site," says the geologist. If the Colombia River is contaminatedwith nuclear waste, it will lead to the contamination of land adjoin thelarge body of water, thus making land unusable. Radioactive contamination ofthe Colombia river will affect both Americas economy and agriculturalproduction.     Yuka mountain, Nevada is a intemperately guarded desert region of America. Itis far away from any lakes, rivers, or oceans, and its repository is locatedabove ground water levels. These geological conditions make Yuka mountain analmost perfect place for nuclear waste disposal to take place. This is due to