Chasing isotopes

126 000 radioactive barrels full of them, stored in a German salt mine.

Germany has a problem with corrosion and water in the former salt mine Asse in the north of the country, used as a facility for research on storing nuclear waste.

The research results are in and can be summarized in a single word: "F***".

The K-landnews obtained access to a former nuclear worker (FNW) and asked for an opinion.

FNW was radiant when he answered the door and talked readily about his work, which he described as "chasing isotopes", eventually clarifying that it was decontamination work.

FNW's statement was shorter than we had expected: I don't want to split atoms here, but they knew that water was coming in from the outside. And, I am not a chemical engineer, but the combination of steel, salt, and water has never been to my liking. At end end of each winter season, I'd look at my car and marvel at the damage a bit of salt had done.

Now, the Germans face several unpleasant options, including pumping concrete into the mine, opening it up to retrieve the garbage, diverting the incoming fresh water into nearby rivers.

Cost estimates are around 4 billion euros. We wait for twice that.

So much for clean and cheap energy.

And a bargain compared to the British Sellafield cleanup.