Recycling along convergent ocean trenches

[dwilwohl]

What is the feasability to utilizing the convergent ocean trenches as a means of recycling nuclear material and heavy metals? Basically, return to the Earth where the stuff came from in first place?

 

[D H]

It's not feasible, and even if it were, it would be a very bad idea.

Compare with Yucca Mountain, which was selected because it is remote, arid, and geologically stable. The latter two characteristics are essential so as to avoid problems with corrosion and earthquakes exposing the hazardous waste to the environment. The remoteness provides a contingency in case of exposure. Those ocean trenches are remote, but they are anything but arid and geologically stable. The immense pressure and salty water is a perfect environment for corrosion, and those subduction zones are the sites of the most intense earthquakes on the planet. Sans an unobtanium barrel, the waste will be exposed to the environment in short order, well before subduction draws the materials downward.

 

[dwilwohl]

Would be nice if we could ever get Yucc Mountain open and running.

 

[Andre]

there are more reasons.

Subduction is very slow and

...at relatively shallow levels, subducting plates start to be chemically altered, releasing a slurry of serpentine minerals to erupt in large mud volcanoes on the seafloor.

 

[dwilwohl]

So, not a good idea after all :-(

 

[Andre]

Don't worry, the problem is that there are so very few good ideas remaining with all the increasing knowledge levels of humanity.

 

[dwilwohl]

Spent 2 years in Afghanistan, the place is a dump. Figure with all the best and brightest, real, actionable, managable solutions for cleaning up the planet should be available.