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Apart from the fact that the Australians neither want nor deserve our nuclear waste, it is no good idea to ship it around half the globe. Not only the Australians will object to such a plan. I fear it will actually end up in Siberia, and the Russians will just take the money and not further care about security.
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On a somewhat related topic, Canada is now testing whether or not weapons grade plutonium from Russian and American nuclear weapons can be used as fuel in the CANDU reactors. If the test is successful, it means that we can burn this plutonium. The problem? The agency in charge (Atomic Energy Canada I believe) doesn't know yet whether its feasible or technically possible, but they've already agreed to accept 100 metric tonnes of plutonium into the country. Obviously when it comes to nuclear waste, very few people use that little thing called "common sense".
As for nuclear waste disposal, I agree with Daryus Aden, shipping all of the waste to Australia is a bad idea. The farther you have to move the waste, the greater the risk. I don't see why Canada has to move it's waste to another country at all, there are plenty of reasonably good disposal sites here, especially in the Canadian shield, although its prohibitively expenisve to carve a facility out of solid rock. But if they choose the site in the right spot, and take the right precautions, contamination risk is usually very low. Much lower than putting the waste onto a ship and sailing halfway around the world.
------------------ "Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you." -Commander Riker, USS Enterprise
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WHAT!?!? CANADA!?!? >:P I don't THINK so. All you's pick on us. Even INTERNALLY we get picked on. Our country is a joke. And now, just because WE CANADIANS are fortunate enough to have ONE asset - huge unoccupied land masses - you think you can dump your discarded nuclear sh*tlets in our country......HA! Australia could USE the $$. Frankly, so could Canada, but Australia deserves it. *has perceived a threat to his country* You see, I intend to live in the boonies of my country when world war three hits in July. And if I have to be dodging Nuclear Waste at the same time I'm dodging Nuclear Falloff.......grrr :P *LOL*
------------------ (Insert witty, attention-grabbing and extremely cool signature that inspires envy from all who see it Here.)
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Even if the plutonium can be burned in our reactors, something like 35% percent of it would still be left as waste. Canada is just being used as an international dumping ground with no benefit to ourselves.
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Orion Syndicate
He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!
Member # 25
posted
Dump it on top of the Whitehouse
Registered: Mar 1999
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It seems nuclear power discussion doesn't comply with common sense anywhere in the world. After 16 years of conservative government, the new left-wing German government decided to totally abandon nuclear power within the next years. A precise schedule is not yet available, since some of the politicians are lacking realism and think it can be done at once. Anyway, as a consequence of this decision nuclear waste is TAKEN BACK from France (and I think the UK as well) where it was supposed to be refined (don't know the exact term for this), and the dangerous stuff is unnecessarily transported once more. The irony about it is that this is in the responsibility of exactly those who never wanted to transport and store ANY nuclear waste and blamed the former government for continually doing it.
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Bernd - Do you know anything about the German nuclear capability weapons wise? I heard your foreign minister state that he was unwilling to remove Germany's 'First Strike' capability.
Can you shed any light on it?
------------------ 'Sir, you've been ordered not to take Polermo'
'Ring General HQ, ask them if they want me to give it back'.
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Daryus: Why we allow it, because it gives us some very potent nuclear fuel. As well because many people are misguided and think that we are helping to destroy some of the superpower's nuclear arsenal. In fact the plutonium is from weapons that were destroyed years ago, and has degraded enough that it would be useless in a bomb.
As to Germany's nuclear situation I always though Germany was strongly against nuclear weapons. Currently they are co-operating with the Canadian government to try end NATO's first use policy. But I may be wrong.
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