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December 4, 2009. Men's genes 'may limit lifespan'. Ch. 16 (wastes) & 17 (water pollution).
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December 4, 2009 Men's genes 'may limit lifespan' • Ch. 16 (wastes) & 17 (water pollution) Men carry the seeds of their own destruction in the genes present in their sperm, research suggests. Scientists working on mice have highlighted a specific gene that, although carried by both sexes, appears to be active only in males. They believe it allows males to grow bigger bodies - but at the expense of their longevity. The study, by Tokyo University of Agriculture, appears in the journal Human Reproduction.
Types of Radioactive Waste • Low Level • from hospitals, labs and industry • paper, rags, tools, clothing, filters • Transuranic (intermediate) • resins, chemical sludges, reactor components • High Level • spent fuel, nuclear weapons % by Volume % by radioactivity
Fuel: 56,000 MT Defense: 11,000 MT Total: 67,000 MT
ceramic Synroc How is HLRW Stored? • Liquid • Solid • Vitrification • Synroc
Management of Wastes • Long term options (potential problems?) • bury in ocean floor • launch into space • put in polar ice sheets • subduction zones • bedrock caverns • ‘delay-and-decay’
Underground Storage • Multiple Barrier Concept • Host rock • stable geology • low porosity & permeability, unfractured • e.g., granite, basalt, tuffs, shale, salt domes • Engineered barriers • canisters, shielding, backfill • Solid waste form • vitrified or ceramic form reduces mobility
Why Yucca Mountain? • Dry climate, remote location, stable geology, deep water table, welded tuffs, Nevada Test Site (NTS) • Underground repository must safely isolate highly radioactive nuclear waste for at least 10,000 years.
Perforated Sheet
YM Geologic Cross Section Water table ▼
T. Kneafsey S. Finsterle J. Birkholzer Seepage Studies • Capillarity and evaporation • Boiling and drying • Fracture sealing