Reply #18: The biggest problem is making sure the waste gets to the trench [View All]

[happyslug]

There have been people advocating ocean dumping of trash for about 20 years. The problem is for this to be effective the waste must be dumped into the Open Ocean Trench NOT the Continental Shelves. When ocean dumping has been performed before (off the East Coast of the US) the waste (Non-Nuclear waste) was dumped 100-200 miles from the coast, but in the Atlantic that is still the Continental Shelves. You have to go halfway to Europe before you are NOT over the Continental Shelves, and no one wants to tote out conventional waste that distance let alone Nuclear Waste.

Several Years ago a Scientist did propose Ocean Dumping of conventional waste. He was out of Los Angles where the Continental Shelves is barely 50 miles from the coast. Such dumping would contain the waste and since the current in that part of the world flow FROM Southern California the chances of any of the waste hitting the coast of California was slim to none. On the other hand, given the distances one has to travel in the Atlantic and that the Gulf Stream brings anything dumps on the Continental Shelves is driven by the Gulf Stream right back to the East Coast, Ocean Dumping has been a non-starter in the East Coast. As to the West Coast, you have a lot of empty desert that can be used to dump the waste.

Now the above is NON-Nuclear Waste, contained in steel drums that would implode as the Drum fell into the ocean and right to the Ocean Floor. The implosion would seal the waste even more. The problem is given the distance needed, you have a lot of old abandoned Strip mines in Pennsylvania that are a lot closer and easier to take trash to. Thus ocean waste dumping has been a non-starter for at least 30 years and will remain so for the next 30 (i.e. till the Strip mines of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio are filled up with East Coast Garbage).

Now I read a report many years ago about the US Navy's plan to dispose of their Nuclear Ships once the ships are NO longer usable. Part of the Plan is conventional, strip any part that is NOT contaminated like you would a conventional powered ships. The parts of the Ships to hot to be re-used are to be dumped in the deep ocean. Both the Russians and the US have lost Nuclear Powered subs in the Deep Ocean and no harmful radiation leaks have been detected (Now there have been harmful radiation leaks from Russian Nuclear Subs sunk on the Continental Shelves, but that is a different situation). Thus the US Navy's plan is to dump the Ex-nuclear ships into the Deep ocean if the steel and other metals can NOT be made safe enough to be reused.

Thus there is NOTHING that prevents deep ocean dumping of Nuclear Waste, except making sure the waste GETS TO THE DEEP OCEAN NOT THE CONTINENTAL SHELF. The biggest problem is the distance from the East Coast. A secondary problem is that the Atlantic Ocean is EXPANDING not CONTRACTING, thus any nuclear waste will stay on the bottom of the Atlantic for 100 of Millions of years

As to the West Coast, the distance is NOT that far, and the Pacific Ocean is deeper than the Atlantic (And the Pacific Ocean Shelvees is being pushed back into the Mantel by the Westward movement of the North American Shelves). Thus the Nuclear waste dump right at the point of induction of the Pacific Plate would in Millions of years be forced back into the Mantle. The biggest problem will be convincing people it is OK to Dump Nuclear Material 50 miles of the California Coast (Remember to get the waste into the Mantle, the waste has to be just ahead of the North American Plate as it forces the Pacific Plate back into the Mantle).