New ask Hacker News story: Ask HN: Why can't nuclear waste be launched into the sun?
Ask HN: Why can't nuclear waste be launched into the sun?
8 by jamestimmins | 8 comments on Hacker News.
My understanding is that nuclear waste is relatively small in volume, yet storage is problematic. If companies like SpaceX succeed, and the price of launching cargo into space falls by another order of magnitude or two, is is either possible or feasible to launch the waste out of Earth's orbit, either into deep space or at the sun? I can think of a few reasons this might be risky or impossible: 1. The risk of launching nuclear waste is too high, given the possibility of a failed launch spreading the waste in our atmosphere. 2. Even with an order of magnitude decrease in launch prices, it is still prohibitively expensive. 3. For engineering reasons, it's nearly impossible to launch a rocket at the sun. If nuclear rockets or reactors are built in space, would this be a possible way of handling nuclear waste from reactors already in space?
8 by jamestimmins | 8 comments on Hacker News.
My understanding is that nuclear waste is relatively small in volume, yet storage is problematic. If companies like SpaceX succeed, and the price of launching cargo into space falls by another order of magnitude or two, is is either possible or feasible to launch the waste out of Earth's orbit, either into deep space or at the sun? I can think of a few reasons this might be risky or impossible: 1. The risk of launching nuclear waste is too high, given the possibility of a failed launch spreading the waste in our atmosphere. 2. Even with an order of magnitude decrease in launch prices, it is still prohibitively expensive. 3. For engineering reasons, it's nearly impossible to launch a rocket at the sun. If nuclear rockets or reactors are built in space, would this be a possible way of handling nuclear waste from reactors already in space?
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