Another humble suggestion: X-ray standard
It happened during the First World War. The head of the research group for the study of oil standards was told: “This slurry remains after the oil has been refined. This is a terrible thing. It spoils the landscape, but digging into the ground does not help, the earth only becomes muddy. Do something about it. ”
And he created the plastics industry.
He turned useless, harmful slurry into wealth. And he was not a pioneer in this matter. Think about what oil is: until it was needed for lubricating mechanisms, and then for refilling them, it was useless, harmful liquid. Think of the terrible substances used in cosmetics: dirt, viscous organic matter of all kinds, and what is obtained from the head of a dead whale. Think of sturgeon caviar: American fishermen are still throwing it out! And the Japanese consider cheese to be what it once was: sour milk.
Now: Existing plans for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel consist of the following strategies.
')
Dissolution and instillation.
Gulf of fuel in the old, abandoned oil wells. The Soviets tell us that it must be safe: after all, oil has been there for millions of years. We can subject their sincerity to doubt: all the developed oil wells that they used for this purpose were in Poland.
Purnell's method (co-author Larry Niven - comment of the translator ). The “nothing nuclear” worldview tells us that the territories of the American deserts have become useless for thousands of years because of the testing of thermonuclear weapons. Let's take their word on faith. We take nuclear waste to a shred of desert, speckled with craters. Let's fence it with multi-fence, and write on it:
IF YOU CROSS THIS FENCE, YOU WILL DIE.
Of course, there will be people who want to cross the fence. Treat this as a real-time evolutionary process. The average human intelligence will increase by a fraction of a percent.
Discharge of radioactive waste in canisters into the folds of the seabed, where the lithospheric plates pass one below the other. The waste will disappear into the magma, from where it came from.
Each of these solutions helps get rid of the materials; but with some cost and no revenue. The fact that the world would be useful now is a new genius. We need a way to turn radioactive revenues into wealth.
And I think I know him.
Straight. Make coins from it.
Radioactive money has a number of obvious advantages.
A healthy economy depends on how quickly money rotates in it. Make them radioactive and they will certainly rotate.
Money authentication will be easy. Geiger counters, like pocket calculators to them, will become both small and cheap because of the mass production. You will hear their quick clicks in the window of each box office. Particle boosters are too expensive for counterfeiters; faking money will become a forgotten craft.
Stimulating the economy will occur in a variety of ways. Lead will be incredibly valuable. Even dishes for church donations must be made of lead (or gold). Bank vaults should be lined with lead, and coins should be separated by partitions. Clothing will also change. Every wallet and one pocket in each pair of pants should be sheathed with lead. And despite this, the expression “money pockets of a pocket” will acquire a new meaning.
Gold will still be a sign of wealth. Gold protects against radiation as well as lead. It will be used to protect the rich from their money.
The work of a tax collector will carry its own long deserved punishment. Undoubtedly, like other professions. The Arab oil sheikh can still become indecently rich, but at least we can expect that he will spend money as fast as he earns - not to turn into a fireball. A selling policy will have to use a credit card for bribes, making it easier to capture. The bank robber at the cash desks will be immediately noticeable by the way he sways from the weight of his lead suit. Lucky pickpocket will also stand out in the crowd. A bulky lead sheathed glove is 100% evidence; but without it they recognize him by frail, dimly glowing hands. Society may even resurrect an ancient practice, cutting off the hand of the criminal as a therapeutic measure (before it kills him).
International assistance can be delivered through intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Is this some kind of crazy utopian idea? Or can Americans adopt a radioactive monetary standard? Perhaps we can. It should be better than watching how green paper approaches its actual value. The cost of making and printing a one-dollar bill, previously equaling one and a half cents, inexorably approaches one dollar. (If only we could expect it to stop! But printing the twenty will cost the same amount ...)
At the very least, radioactive money has real value. About what we call "radioactive waste", our descendants will be able to speak boldly as about "fuel." It is dangerous precisely because it undergoes division ... because it brings energy. Unfortunately, the material will not last “thousands of years”. In six hundred years, the spent fuel will be no more radioactive than the rock from which it was extracted.
Discharge of radioactive substances into the sea is wasteful. We can guarantee that they will still be with us when the reserves of oil, coal and plutonium on Earth are exhausted - if we turn them into money today.
Larry Niven - author of the science fiction novel "The World Ring", winner of the "Hugo" award.
And he created the plastics industry.
He turned useless, harmful slurry into wealth. And he was not a pioneer in this matter. Think about what oil is: until it was needed for lubricating mechanisms, and then for refilling them, it was useless, harmful liquid. Think of the terrible substances used in cosmetics: dirt, viscous organic matter of all kinds, and what is obtained from the head of a dead whale. Think of sturgeon caviar: American fishermen are still throwing it out! And the Japanese consider cheese to be what it once was: sour milk.
Now: Existing plans for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel consist of the following strategies.
')
Dissolution and instillation.
Gulf of fuel in the old, abandoned oil wells. The Soviets tell us that it must be safe: after all, oil has been there for millions of years. We can subject their sincerity to doubt: all the developed oil wells that they used for this purpose were in Poland.
Purnell's method (co-author Larry Niven - comment of the translator ). The “nothing nuclear” worldview tells us that the territories of the American deserts have become useless for thousands of years because of the testing of thermonuclear weapons. Let's take their word on faith. We take nuclear waste to a shred of desert, speckled with craters. Let's fence it with multi-fence, and write on it:
IF YOU CROSS THIS FENCE, YOU WILL DIE.
Of course, there will be people who want to cross the fence. Treat this as a real-time evolutionary process. The average human intelligence will increase by a fraction of a percent.
Discharge of radioactive waste in canisters into the folds of the seabed, where the lithospheric plates pass one below the other. The waste will disappear into the magma, from where it came from.
Each of these solutions helps get rid of the materials; but with some cost and no revenue. The fact that the world would be useful now is a new genius. We need a way to turn radioactive revenues into wealth.
And I think I know him.
Straight. Make coins from it.
Radioactive money has a number of obvious advantages.
A healthy economy depends on how quickly money rotates in it. Make them radioactive and they will certainly rotate.
Money authentication will be easy. Geiger counters, like pocket calculators to them, will become both small and cheap because of the mass production. You will hear their quick clicks in the window of each box office. Particle boosters are too expensive for counterfeiters; faking money will become a forgotten craft.
Stimulating the economy will occur in a variety of ways. Lead will be incredibly valuable. Even dishes for church donations must be made of lead (or gold). Bank vaults should be lined with lead, and coins should be separated by partitions. Clothing will also change. Every wallet and one pocket in each pair of pants should be sheathed with lead. And despite this, the expression “money pockets of a pocket” will acquire a new meaning.
Gold will still be a sign of wealth. Gold protects against radiation as well as lead. It will be used to protect the rich from their money.
The work of a tax collector will carry its own long deserved punishment. Undoubtedly, like other professions. The Arab oil sheikh can still become indecently rich, but at least we can expect that he will spend money as fast as he earns - not to turn into a fireball. A selling policy will have to use a credit card for bribes, making it easier to capture. The bank robber at the cash desks will be immediately noticeable by the way he sways from the weight of his lead suit. Lucky pickpocket will also stand out in the crowd. A bulky lead sheathed glove is 100% evidence; but without it they recognize him by frail, dimly glowing hands. Society may even resurrect an ancient practice, cutting off the hand of the criminal as a therapeutic measure (before it kills him).
International assistance can be delivered through intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Is this some kind of crazy utopian idea? Or can Americans adopt a radioactive monetary standard? Perhaps we can. It should be better than watching how green paper approaches its actual value. The cost of making and printing a one-dollar bill, previously equaling one and a half cents, inexorably approaches one dollar. (If only we could expect it to stop! But printing the twenty will cost the same amount ...)
At the very least, radioactive money has real value. About what we call "radioactive waste", our descendants will be able to speak boldly as about "fuel." It is dangerous precisely because it undergoes division ... because it brings energy. Unfortunately, the material will not last “thousands of years”. In six hundred years, the spent fuel will be no more radioactive than the rock from which it was extracted.
Discharge of radioactive substances into the sea is wasteful. We can guarantee that they will still be with us when the reserves of oil, coal and plutonium on Earth are exhausted - if we turn them into money today.
Larry Niven - author of the science fiction novel "The World Ring", winner of the "Hugo" award.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/375575/
All Articles