A plaidoyer for nuclear waste disposal in space
- Paper ID
1980-IAF-A-47
- author
- company
ERNO Raumfahrtechnik GmbH
- country
Federal Republic of Germany
- year
1980
- abstract
There cannot be any doubt that a safe and economical way of disposal of radioactive waste materials, so crucial for the future nuclear power supply, is currently a very controversial subject. Despite the effort by authorities and industry to rationally sell the idea of terrestrial stowage of the said wastes, considerable emotional resistance to it persists in the public and some serious concerns about eventual ill-effects on our natural environment remain. Thus it is a current political fact - to be taken into account by any responsible politician - that a good part of the citizens - including many of really good will -oppose in principle and with a kind of idealistic-religous vetremence any storage of radioactive materials on earth. Fig. 1 shows the current planned or practicized nuclear fuel cycle with final waste disposal in salt mines. It is not the intention of the author to take up any position in regard to the terrestrial solutions of radioactive waste disposal, but rather look for another alternative solution, taking the above mentioned political fact for given. Thus this paper pleads for hazardous waste disposal in space as the only reasonable alternative that can be offered to the opposing public, should the enforcement of the terrestrial solution againsts public non-acceptability be avoided.