On the Temperature Response in Ice Sheets to Radioactive Waste Deposits

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Author: Philberth, K.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1976
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; Greenland; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Sheet; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000031440; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000031440

Abstract Disposal of the the radioactive waste from the peaceful use of nuclear energy in the central region of the ice sheet of Greenland or Antarctica has been proposed. This paper demonstrates that an area only 100 km 2 on the ice divide is sufficient to dispose of the high-level waste of the whole world for the next 30 years without hazard. The thermal power of the radioactive decay makes the waste containers melt down to a depth of 2 km. Thus the total disintegration heat is spread through a volume of 100 km 2 × 2 km. The mean temperature increase in this volume is a few degrees. The temperature increase does not influence the rheology of the ice sheet at any time: for a few ten-thousand years after the dumping the area concerned is too small; later the temperature increase is too small.