
This is truly rich. While anti-drillers prattle on about how a few gallons of chemicals a mile down in the earth will magically defy gravity and climb uphill through a mile of solid rock to contaminate water supplies (yeah, it NEVER happens), the scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey have written a research paper that says shale is so secure, we ought to consider using it to dispose of spent nuclear waste--stuff that hangs around for millions of years!
You read the above statement correctly. Scientists at the USGS have just published a paper titled "Can Shale Safely Host U.S. Nuclear Waste?" in
EOS, a journal by the American Geophysical Union (full copy embedded below). The conclusion of their investigation into whether or not nuclear waste could be disposed of in shale: "Although shales and similar rocks have not been considered for hosting nuclear waste in the United States, recent research points to them as a
very promising option." Note to emergency rooms throughout the Southern Tier of NY: Prepare to receive large numbers of apoplectic anti-drillers when they read about this...
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