'Hey you! You have the space! Yeah, let's see if we can dump our sh*t there!'

How unfortunate that we have space, natural resources etc. What makes them think that we want this crap? *scratches head*. The theoretical justification is that we have the space and the technology to be able to handle it better than anyone else. And it will boost out economy my 1%. Yeah, as if we need the money...1% boost to GDP v's nuclear waste. BIG decision there!!!!

My reply to this 'justification' - You also have the technology and the ability to handle it. Take care of your own mess.

Any Australian govt that agrees to this proposal will commit political suicide. I just can't fathom the density of the people that made the proposal!

Let me know if any country wants the sum total of nuclear waste of the world. I'll give them some sleeping pills, and ask them where they keep their wallets, and if they'd mind if I burned their houses down, as they won't be needing them any longer.

------------------
I drink therefore I am.

-Descartes

*grumbles a lot about the U.S. government, excusing the other involved parties who were probably just not thinking straight*

1.) It's illegal, at least technically. According to the Outer Space Treaty, no nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction can be placed into orbit. Now, the U.S. and Russia generally turn a blind eye to nuclear material that isn't a weapon, such as the Cassini launch. But I doubt very much that either side will be willing to ignore large amounts of radioactive material being launched.

2.) It's prohibitively expensive. It took the largest rocket the U.S. has, the Saturn V, just to send Apollo to the Moon. What you're asking would require an even larger rocket. I don't think that even the Russian Energya, currently the most powerful rocket design in existance, could boost a significant amount of material towards the sun.

3.) It's dangerous. The Energya, for instance, has a 50% success rate. U.S. rockets are a bit better, but the threat remains.

Eliminating nuclear waste by vaporizing it in the sun seems, on the surface, to be the safest and most elegant solution. And someday it might be. But we need to wait for more advanced propulsion technologies.

------------------
"I'm sick, like Nixon was sick, my defeated heart keeps beating on. I won't die, like Chucky won't die."
--
They Might Be Giants

Of COURSE I'm kidding.

I just listened to this audiotape of a short story, set in the future, where science and technology, long the despoilers, have finally been used to condense all toxic wasted generated each year into a small, doughnut-shaped object.
Then, in a lavish ceremony at the end of each year (fiscal), hosted by a "Mr. Crystal," one citizen (of the world) is chosen, and in front of a world wide television audience...
They eat it.

------------------
"I'm sick, like Nixon was sick, my defeated heart keeps beating on. I won't die, like Chucky won't die."
--
They Might Be Giants

quote:

---

Firing it into space would be the easiest solution, but could you imagine what would happen if the thing pulled a Challenger?
It would contaiminate a huge slice of the world with leathal doses of radiation. It has to go somewhere, and frankly, I'd rather it get buried in Australia than Canada. Of course, it makes the most sense just to stick in in Siberia. Besides, the Russians need the money.

---

Jarish, my point is this: Australia has no nuclear power generators. I'll be damned if I'm going to allow anyone to dump their crap here.

Canada has plenty of open space to take care of it's own waste, what makes you think we would want it???

------------------
I drink therefore I am.

-Descartes

You know, so much of the bad press nuclear power gets is not due to the inherent danger, but because people cut corners or act carelessly.
If you carefully buried waste in a secure area, in such a way that in a century when spaceflight was more safe, you could remove it & ship it to the sun, then it'd be no problem. But no, governments prefer to just dig a deep well, preferably on someone else's land, and throw the garbage down it and forget about it.

------------------
An unborn scream burst in my stomach,
and spread like cold mercury through my chest.
I covered my face with my hands, but kept looking through my fingers.
"Write that down!", he told the stick.
"Is visibly destroyed, yet unable to turn away".

Canada is in on this? Grrr. We do have plenty of space, that's for sure. One of the least densely packed countries in the world... Hm. Perhpas the most least packed. This is intolerable!

They'd better not get away with this.

In all seriousness, I don't support this proposal at all. But logically Australia is perhaps the best spot in the world to do this. (There and in Belgrade)

------------------
"......"
�������������-The Breen at Internment Camp 371

Don't use those punctuation points unless you mean it.

------------------
I drink therefore I am.

-Descartes

------------------
Garak: Interesting. You saved the day by destroying the world.
Bashir: I bet they didn't teach you that in the Obsidian Order.