Alternative to dumping depleted uranium.

[the tree]

The term depleted uranium is a bit of a misnomer: what it means is uranium that's no-longer radioactive enough for the plant to consider it worth keeping in the reactor.

 

But of course it is still radioactive, it hasn't completely been depleted of all radioactive isotopes, if it had then it wouldn't pose a threat and it could be used to build things.

 

Now just because a massive commercial power station doesn't consider it worth keeping, doesn't mean that it's useless does it?

 

How about if once a major station considers thier uranium to no longer be useful; it gets put in a (now this is why I'm posting this in pseudoscience) domestic generator that only powers a town and a few villages until it's so depleted that it's no longer a danger?

[mmalluck]

Depelted uranium only becomes more radioactive over time (looking over 10000+ years). The U-238 decays into other elements and isotopes. With each decay some radiation is released. These daughter products further decay and release more radiation. Over time these daughter products build up to an appreciable amount and is evident through an increase in the radiation measured from a sample. So you can't deplete the waste any more than it already is by using it somewhere else. It also won't sit around and wait for you to use it. It'll become more radioactive all by itself.

 

Every nuclear powerplant utilizes the nuclear fuel to heat water. U-238 doesn't release enough energy quickly enough to heat the water any appreacable amount. I could take something like 1000 tonnes of DU, plunk it into a swimming pool, and the sun would do a better job of heating the pool than the DU would.

[insane_alien]

depleted uranium is when all of the U-235 has been used up by the reactor. the "depleted" part only refers to the U-235 not the radioactivity so the term depleted uranium is not a misnomer. the U-238 leftover could be used in fast breeder reactors to provide power and some more fuel(hence the name "breeder"). there is no isotobe of uranium that is stable and unradioactive but it is used in sheilding intense radiation sources and then some lower grade sheilding protects against the radioactivity of the U-238. i think for the domestic generator you are meaning an R.T.G. which has been used in a few space missions but it needs a more active radio-isotope to provide a decent power/volume ratio. with U-238 you would need a lot of cubic meters to power a house.

[the tree]

depleted uranium is when all of the U-235 has been used up by the reactor.

I'm pretty certain it's when most U-235 has been used up, not all.

[mmalluck]

It's not that the U-235 is 'used up' much rather it is seperated from the bulk uranium ore. The left-overs are mostly comprosed of U-238 and often refered to as depeleted uranium. The U-235 finds itself in reactor cores and nuclear weapons, where the U-238 is dumped.

 

It's the U-235 that's really radioactive and of a mass that is easily fusable.

[CPL.Luke]

also the uranium is highly toxic, it would be like using led or mercury to build things

[insane_alien]

i know that only most of the U-235 is used but there is so little left that it is negligble.

Yes the U-235 is more radioactive than U-238 but its not that much more radioactive. both U-235 and U-238 can reach a critical mass and U-235's is smaller but isn't it meant to be the U-238 that were talking about.

[swansont]

depleted uranium is when all of the U-235 has been used up by the reactor.

 

 

Depleted uranium has typically never seen the inside of a reactor. It's what is left over after separating out as much of the U-235 as is feasible in the enrichment process.

[insane_alien]

I was sleepy OK?