Now measure coal waste.
> Now look elsewhere
Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste
31–40 of 109 posts
Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
We literally mine Uranium. How can people not realize this stuff can be found naturally on Earth?
Or even better, the natural fission reactor found in Gabon. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_nuclear_fission_reac...
I'll raise you the hypothesized (and today largely doubted) terracentric georeactor published in PNAS:
Deep-Earth reactor: Nuclear fission, helium, and the geomagnetic field, https://www.pnas.org/content/98/20/11085
And don't forget the "Moon may have formed in a nuclear explosion" theory (uranium enrichment back then was well above 20%!): https://www.technologyreview.com/s/417259/moon-may-have-form...
Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste
#33Wait until they hear about neodymium processing for wind turbines.
https://min-eng.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-real-cost-of-using-... "Neodymium is found most often in monazite and bastnasite. Due to the fact that these minerals also contain lanthanides and other rare earth elements, it is difficult to isolate neodymium. The first isolation process involves extracting the lanthanides and metals out of the ores in their salt form. This step is carried out using sulphuric acid, hydrochlo…
This blog post relies on the Daily Mail as it's main source. Are there any other articles or sites you can point me too, DM has plenty of links to big oil and regularly prints dubious anti 'green' material.
This sounds believable though, so interested to read more.
Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste
#34Technically speaking they released concentrated naturally-occurring radioactive materials (NORMs). I only emphasize this because most people don't know how much radioactive stuff is natural. Doesn't mean it's not a hazard in concentration, of course.
We literally mine Uranium. How can people not realize this stuff can be found naturally on Earth?
We literally mine Uranium. How can people not realize this stuff can be found naturally on Earth?
The same way 30% of British children think that cheese is a plant, that fish sticks come from pigs, and 10% think potatoes grow on trees.
https://www.bbc.com/news/education-22730613
Of course, with almond "milk" and soy "turkey" these days, I guess it's normal for them to be confused.
Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste
#35Wait until they hear about neodymium processing for wind turbines.
https://min-eng.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-real-cost-of-using-... "Neodymium is found most often in monazite and bastnasite. Due to the fact that these minerals also contain lanthanides and other rare earth elements, it is difficult to isolate neodymium. The first isolation process involves extracting the lanthanides and metals out of the ores in their salt form. This step is carried out using sulphuric acid, hydrochlo…
Regarding the last paragraph:
From that same article:
A direct-drive permanent-magnet generator for a top capacity wind turbine would use around 2 tonnes of neodymium-based permanent magnet material.
https://roskill.com/news/rare-earths-changing-magnet-composi...
The rare earth content in neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets is 29-33% and the main rare earths used are neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr), typically at a ratio of 3:1.
Given this data your typical wind turbine contains ~650kg of rare-earths.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277639048_An_Assess...
We estimate that approximately 0.44 kg of rare earths are used in a typical conventional sedan, with approximately80% of the rare earth content in magnets. As such, neodymium is the most extensively used rare earth, followed by cerium,which is used mainly in catalytic converters. The mass of rare earths in a full hybrid electric vehicle with a nickel metal hydride battery is approximately 4.5 kg. A full hybrid electric vehicle with a lithium-ion battery contains approximately 1kg of rare earth elements.
Basically one turbine is equivalent to ~1500 cars in terms of rare earths, which may seem high, but if you compare the production scale, wind turbines are unlikely to be the main consumers of neodymium, or rare earths in general.
Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste
#36I used to do the soil lab testing for a guy that dealt with this waste in my state. They did permitting and paid farmers to be able to spread it on their fields and tell them it is good for them and will make the soil more fertile. It can be either the salt brine or the more hydrocarbon based stuff that was basically like tar being spread on the farmer’s pasture. He himself wrote the laws that the state government ju…
What did the tests say was in it? What didn't you test for (like radioactivity) that you felt bad about?
Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste
#37Technically speaking they released concentrated naturally-occurring radioactive materials (NORMs). I only emphasize this because most people don't know how much radioactive stuff is natural. Doesn't mean it's not a hazard in concentration, of course.
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Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste
#38I used to do the soil lab testing for a guy that dealt with this waste in my state. They did permitting and paid farmers to be able to spread it on their fields and tell them it is good for them and will make the soil more fertile. It can be either the salt brine or the more hydrocarbon based stuff that was basically like tar being spread on the farmer’s pasture. He himself wrote the laws that the state government ju…
> they weren’t informed about the real dangers of what was being spread.
I wonder how many of them would even care. This week the EPA dismantled the Clean Water Rule.
The primary backers for this were farmers and developers.
Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste
#39Technically speaking they released concentrated naturally-occurring radioactive materials (NORMs). I only emphasize this because most people don't know how much radioactive stuff is natural. Doesn't mean it's not a hazard in concentration, of course.
The article actually picks up on that but the other way around:
"There is a perception that because the radioactivity is naturally occurring it’s less harmful (the industry and regulators almost exclusively call oil-and-gas waste NORM — naturally occurring radioactive material, or TENORM for the “technologically enhanced” concentrations of radioactivity that accumulate in equipment like pipes and trucks)."
Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste
#40I used to do the soil lab testing for a guy that dealt with this waste in my state. They did permitting and paid farmers to be able to spread it on their fields and tell them it is good for them and will make the soil more fertile. It can be either the salt brine or the more hydrocarbon based stuff that was basically like tar being spread on the farmer’s pasture. He himself wrote the laws that the state government ju…
> they weren’t informed about the real dangers of what was being spread. I wonder how many of them would even care. This week the EPA dismantled the Clean Water Rule. The primary backers for this were farmers and developers.
I guess they would care if their land becomes worthless as a result.