Instead of figuring out where to put nuclear waste, why can't we just find a way to neutralize it so it's no longer hazardous? Curiosity about what to do with nuclear waste inspired one of the questions in this edition of "Ask AP," a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers' questions about the news. If you have your own news-related question that you'd like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions@ap.org, with "Ask AP" in the subject line. And please include your full name and hometown so they can be published with your question. You can also find Ask AP on AP Mobile, a multimedia news portal available on Internet-enabled mobile devices. Go to http://www.apnews.com/ to learn more. ___ How can animals not only drink and live in but even thrive in water that is so contaminated that it would make humans very sick, or kill them, if consumed? I don't mean fish but mammals, reptiles and amphibians that can survive on water in polluted lakes, canals, rivers and ponds that are unsafe for human consumption. Jeff Vanderslice Plantation, Fla. ___ Actually, animals often don't thrive in polluted waters, said Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program. Seals near Central Asia's Aral Sea and whales near the St. Lawrence Seaway along the U.S.-Canada border have had problems because of pollution, and mink near Lake Michigan don't reproduce because of dioxin and PCBs, or polychlorinated vinyls, Birnbaum said. Amphibians are disappearing all over the world, for a combination of various and sometimes still unknown reasons. The real issue, though, is that science looks at animals and people differently. In animals, we look for immediate events, like mass fish die-offs. In people, we look at the long-term chronic effects, like cancer. Rarely do we study cancer or other chronic effects in wild mammals, Birnbaum said. It's also worth noting that different species have different tolerances to toxicity. Seth Borenstein AP Science Writer Washington ___ How come, with all our technology and great scientific brains, we can't figure out how to neutralize nuclear waste? What is the problem (in terms a layman can understand)? Margaret Tabar Pontiac, Mich. ___ The federal government and the nuclear industry figure it will take decades to create the kind of technology that would reduce the volume and radio-toxicity of high-level nuclear waste so that it can be recycled to obtain more energy and improve waste disposal, according to Steve Kraft, senior director of used fuel management at the Nuclear Energy Institute. The reason no plan has been developed to take care of waste? "It's extremely complicated," said Ed Lyman, senior staff scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists. "Nuclear waste is a mixture of many different radioactive isotopes, all with specific properties. No one-size-fits-all solution exists to convert those into less hazardous materials," he said. Continued... |