Re: canscientists take all nuclear waste and launch it to the sun?

Dovy, 

There are two answers to your question.  (Aren't there always?)  Could we
send the waste at the sun?  Yes it is technically possible, and no it would
not affect the sun at all.  In fact the material would not even hit the
sun's surface.  The craft carrying the material would burn up to the point
where it and everything in it were just small clumps of atoms and then the
pressure of the sun's radiation (that's the light, and all the particles
and other radiation it gives off) would blow it off into space.  

However there is something that makes that option technically undoable at
this time: the reliability of launching things is not good enough for it to
be safe to launch something that hazardous in that large of a quantity. 
The chances that the rocket launching it could explode in the earth's
atmosphere, or never reach escape velocity and fall back to earth
eventually are too high to do this.  It is also currently too expensive to
do this, as a typical launch cost is about $1,000 per pound launched (that
includes the weight of the rocket, not just the payload!).  I won't say we
will never dispose of radioactive waste this way, it just doesn't seem
likely.  For one thing, the nuclear waste really should be reprocessed to
get the still useful uranium out, leaving only a small quantity of really
nasty stuff to really be disposed of.  Why this is not done is a matter of
politics not fit for discussion here (and it would take too long and it
would be too boring).  

Now you might have heard about NASA launching radioactive material into
space.  We have several times.  These devices are called radioisotope
thermoelectric generators or RTGs.  They are designed to provide
electricity to spacecraft that have to venture so far from the sun that
solar panels are essentially useless.  The RTGs are designed with the
possibility of failure in mind.  One launched in the 1960's did fail on
launch.  It crashed (it didn't hit anyone, thankfully).  The recovery team
picked up the RTGs, shipped them back to NASA where they were reworked and
later launched again.  That's how tough they were then and they are made
even better now.  The Soviets (just the Russians now) had considerably more
trouble with theirs.    However, you might then ask, if we can do that, why
not the waste too?  See the comment on cost again and factor in the fear
that some people have about anything radioactive at all and you have the
answer to why we don't.  Right now, it just isn't feasible.  

Some references on these RTGs (and what happened to them, several are on
the moon) are given here:  http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/nuclear_space_010625-6.html http://spacelink.nasa.gov/NASA.Projects/Human.Exploration.and.Development.of.Space/Human.Space.Flight/Shuttle/Shuttle.Missions/Flight.031.STS-34/Galileos.Power.Supply/Space.Nuclear.Power.System.Accidents

If you want to read alot more about them, go to Google and type in SNAP
RTG.  Lots of fun reading there.  The most recent one we sent up is on the
Cassini spacecraft on it's way to Saturn.  Look for pictures from her soon,
Saturn orbit insertion is 1 July, 2004!  Here's the NASA website for the
mission.   http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm  

I hope I have answered your question to your satisfaction! 

Scott Kniffin
Code 561.4
Radiation Effects and Analysis Group
Flight Electronics Branch
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center