Nuclear Legacy :: essays research papers

Nuclear Legacy"There is 10 thousand wads of nuclear desert on Earth." Many scientist arein count for new and efficient ways to dispose of these lethal by-productswhich can smash life itself. Radioactive products can be either beneficial ordevastating. It all depends on how we use them. In the field of medicine, some attain from radiation include, radiation therapy for cancer patients. Not alluses of radiation rear to be beneficial. Many use the power of the atom fordestructive purposes, introducing an get along of nuclear war farthere. It doesnt matterif we use radiation for good or unsuitable purposes, they all contri stille to the growingrate of "unwanted nuclear waste." The sales outlet now is, how do we dispose of thesenuclear wastes?     Scientist have thought of some(prenominal) methods to dispose the nuclear by-products. They tried to chemically treat the waste and employ it, but "that wouldcost a fortune". They thought of launching the waste into outer space but it toowill cost a fortune. They tried to dump barrels filled with nuclear waste intothe marine but they started leaking. As you can see, there is a great acquire for anuclear waste disposal site. These sites may sound frightening, but it may bethe only way for us to dispose the destruction we had longed to create. In 1986,the decision for a nuclear waste depositary proved to be "the approximately 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-pitched populated U.S. city, and is owned by theDepartment of Energy. A low populated city is an ideal site for radioactivedisposal. Although the city of Hanford is sparsely populated, geologists fearthe possibility of a nuclear seepage into the Colomb ia river. The ColumbiaRiver is an main(prenominal) factor for the U.S. production of wheat. "This makes itthe worst of site," says the geologist. If the Colombia River is contaminatedwith nuclear waste, it will lead-in to the contamination of land surrounding thelarge body of water, thus qualification land unusable. Radioactive contamination ofthe Colombia river will affect both Americas saving and agriculturalproduction.     Yuka mountain, Nevada is a heavily guarded desert region of America. Itis far away from any lakes, rivers, or oceans, and its repository is locatedabove terms water levels. These geological conditions make Yuka mountain analmost perfect get in for nuclear waste disposal to take place. This is due to