[mattifikation]

I doubt it.

A nuclear explosion redistributes fallout over thousands of square miles, and it's still dangerous.

[Subgenius]

You want to keep the rods cold. Dropping them into a volcano would be BAD. It would make them heat up and then you are screwed.

[homelitexl]

stick them in a litle place called the moon esy

[Bob]

I don't get it.
I would expect the magma to melt the rods.
The resulting magma would move around and disperse the radioactive material.
Now true enough if the volcano went active before the dispersal was complete then it would send highly radioactive material into the air.
I wonder how long the dispersal would take?

[Subgenius]

Bob said:

I don't get it.
I would expect the magma to melt the rods.
The resulting magma would move around and disperse the radioactive material.
Now true enough if the volcano went active before the dispersal was complete then it would send highly radioactive material into the air.
I wonder how long the dispersal would take?

Check this out: Evaluating Consequences of Volcanism for Spent Nuclear Fuel at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

"...with a melting point >2800C, much higher than magma temperatures of 1000-1200C. Spent fuel would not dissolve in magma..."

[Bob]

Well Crap!

[homelitexl]

launch the basterds to the moon

[Darkness]

"Well, if you can't melt them, what about freezing them? Heart of the South Pole anyone?" :think:

[Bob]

Well they are supposed to be kept cool.

[homelitexl]

uh the moon is colder

[mattifikation]

Actually, what they should do is coat them with phosphorous material and then put solar panels next to them. Radiation is energy. Why waste it?

[Subgenius]

Darkness said:

"Well, if you can't melt them, what about freezing them? Heart of the South Pole anyone?" :think:

While that seems ideal, it is still not practical. There are too many nuke plants with too many spent fuel rods to risk shipping them to Antarctica. It's easier and more practical to ship them to places like the Yucca Mountain complex. it's too difficult to guard the spent fuel rods at the South Pole. Believe it or not, storing them underground is a very COLD way to store them. It's deep enough that the heat of the sun no longer penetrates, but not deep enough to feel the heat of the molten core of the planet.

Storing the spent fuel rods underground also addresses the issue of the current storage facilities needed power to keep cool. Currently, if all humans cannot run the nuke plant, then the reactors automatically shut down. After that, the diesel generators will run for nine hours keeping the spent fuels rods buildings cold. Only nine hours. Then, they will heat up and cause a very serious disaster.

[homelitexl]

the moon nuff said

[Darkness]

"Another reason we need to consider other sources of power."

[Faran Brigo]

They could just break up the nuclear fuel rod assemblies in parts small enough so the fuel will never reach temperatures high enough to self-ignite or melt. The problem is that would take a lot of space (not necessarily a lot of time though), but I'm guessing with entire continents nearly depopulated, that wouldn't be such a big issue.

I don't think a ZPAW would be instantaneous, there would be time to react. Maybe not enough time to raise huge armies or launch dangerous stuff into the sun, but surely enough to disperse dangerous materials, including nuclear fuel and hazardous chemicals.