Hi Rob,

I am a big nuclear proponent, however I know that the Nevada locale is just several coprporations who have gotten their say with Cheney and have convinced him to push Bush forward on a course of action that is not well thought out.

Since the nuclear age began the discussions of permanent homes for spent control rods were discussed, shelved, discussed again, shelved again, enough times to make one dizzy.

The problem also isn't just storage - it's transportation.

One of the great and popularly unknown secrets of radioactive material is that it's fields are cumulative.



On several prototype journeys of intense nuclear material - the results were horrific. Trucks which were thought to possess sufficient shielding were always radioactive on the OUTSIDE of the truck within half an hours journey.

They hosed down the truck and changed drivers every half an hour - as the drivers got a lifetime full of REMs in that time.

No matter how thick the shielding - radioactivity was always found outside the truck. No leaks were found.

Here is what really happens....

When you put spent control rods in a truck - each inch of these rods contains trillions upon trillions of imbalanced isotopes or atoms. Each of these emits a certain field of energy around it. When collected together, the radiated field becomes quite substantial.

Even when shielding is in place and particles cannot pass through the shielding: THE FIELD CAN

So...this field on the outside of these trucks has a specific frequency which is linked to radioactive isotopes.

Well...what happens is this field draws like a magnet - all natural radioactivity out of the air, dust, etc. Normally this radioactivity amounts to a paltry quantity and we hardly notice it - but when drawn to a passing vehicle - the vehicle is drowning in radioactive particles which are being drawn to the collective field of the transported waste.

Do you see what this really means though?

The greater the quantity of material moved - the greater the hazard - regardless of shielding.

The bigger the storage pile - the more inherently unsafe it is to the surrounding groundwater, neighborhoods etc. Leaks are not even really an issue.

This is the little dark secret, nuclear physicists keep to themselves. It is why for 40 years we have not built a high-level waste facility or collected and transported high-level waste on a daily basis through our nation.

Best I can tell the only safe transport cvontainer would place a quantity of high level waste in the center of transport bin the size of a city block, pump out the air and transport to a new destination. Naturally this is impossible with today's transportation technology.

It is not cost effective to transport one rod at a time, or small quantities - thus the impasse we have seen.

No one wants people to be irradiated. No one wants to be without power.

The only fairly safe yet horrendously expensive solution I can see would be to ship small scale transfers to MULTIPLE storage facilities in the arctic and antarctic regions.

Either that - or the most intellligent solution is to design a technology which can modify the atom at the source and stabilize it so that it no longer "seeps" energy from other spectra - and treat all the high level waste right where it sits right now. Make control-rods recyclable;-)

Note to protesters who block trains, trucks, etc...you take your life and the life of the crew in your hands when you approach or slow a train with a high-level cargo. Stay as far away as possible...and let them pass without delay.

I am not a proponent of the Yucca Valley location and I know the majority of Nevadans have already had enough radioactive contamination of their state to last a couple of life times.

We need another politician like Seward - so we can buy some more real cold real estate.

Best wishes,

SDAI-Tech1