Sydney and the adjacent unincorporated area, have curbside green waste pickup using green-colored, green waste containers and it will be collected by green waste disposal team.

Here’s the bottom line on nuclear waste:

it’s incredibly toxic, incredibly dangerous, and if you’re among the 99 percent who aren’t employed by the nuclear energy industry, you don’t want it stored anywhere near your home.

Even if you work in nuclear energy you may not want it near your home, whether you feel free to admit it or not. Safety measures aside, nuclear waste makes people skittish, and that is understandable.

No one wants nuclear waste buried in their neighborhood, and that is part of the problem. But the biggest part of the problem is that such waste is produced inside nuclear energy facilities at astonishing levels—250,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel were stored onsite at nuclear power plants around the world as of the last accounting, and that number grows by the thousands of tons each and every year [1].

Why is it difficult to deal with nuclear waste safely?

The waste products produced inside nuclear reactor cores are deadly to all forms of life. When uranium is converted into energy through nuclear fission, the spent fuel rods it leaves behind are contaminated with radioactive poisons like cesium-137, iodine-131 and strontium-90, each of which emits significant quantities of ionizing radiation that can severely damage the cells of living organisms, along with their DNA (it is the latter effect that is responsible for the cancer risk associated with radiation exposure) [2].

The radiation produced by these toxic fission byproducts can easily penetrate a range of materials, and that means nuclear waste must be handled remotely and with radiation-proof shielding to prevent dangerous human exposures.

Plutonium is another byproduct of nuclear fission, and while it does not have the same penetrating qualities as cesium-137, iodine-131 and strontium-90 it is literally the deadliest substance on the face of the earth [3]. This means it, too, must be handled with extraordinary caution, and it also must be kept secure since plutonium can be used to build nuclear weapons.

Where is nuclear waste stored?

Initially, spent nuclear fuel rods removed from nuclear reactors are stored in isolated deep-water pools, which have walls made of reinforced concrete poured several feet thick, with steel liners added for extra protection.

To prevent overfilling of these pools, power plant companies will eventually transfer nuclear waste to large, heavy, stainless-steel casks entombed in concrete and stored above ground on power plant property. Spent fuel rods are both radioactive and thermally hot, and they must be left to cool off underwater for at least five years before they are moved to dry cask storage [4].

These storage methods are designed to last for no more than a few decades, until a permanent underground repository can be built and opened—assuming such a thing ever happens, which at this point seems like a dubious proposition [5].
 

Effects of radioactive waste in the ocean

Between 1946 and 1993, as many as 13 countries were using the oceans of the world as a dumping ground for nuclear waste [6]. Thankfully, this activity has now been outlawed by treaty, but illegal dumping is still going on in certain locations where environmental policing is lax [7].

For a long time, ocean dumping was considered relatively safe, since the seas are so vast and their powers to dilute so advanced. But wastes will inevitably accumulate in the areas where the dumping occurs, and in those areas the risk is not minimal. Microscopic plant life that colonizes every square inch of the ocean can absorb toxic radiation and pass it up through the food chain, from fish to mammals to human beings.

What is the proper way to dispose of radioactive waste?

Human beings must be protected from nuclear waste for as long as it maintains its ability to produce deadly or cancer-causing levels of ionizing radiation. This means that spent fuel rods must be kept in radiation-proof containers indefinitely, and those who handle it must be protected by shielding, special clothing and other measures designed to keep them safe from radioactive exposure. Extra care must be taken if nuclear waste is transported to offsite locations, to make sure accidents don’t happen and that any possibility of leakage or theft.

Deep underground burial in geologically stable locations is the best way to dispose of radioactive waste produced by nuclear power plants. However, constructing such repositories is expensive, time-consuming and requires political support that as of yet has not been forthcoming.
 

High-Level nuclear waste disposal

Because of its tremendous toxicity, which will make it lethal for tens of thousands of years or longer, high-level nuclear waste is not fit for conventional disposal. It must be stored in safe, secure locations, in durable containers that won’t crack, leak, or be vulnerable to damage from bombs, earthquakes, or high-powered weapons used in military or terrorist attacks.

While cesium-137 and strontium-90 have half-lives of 30 years, meaning they lose half of their potency in that amount of time, plutonium has a half-life of more than 24,000 years (and that might be a conservative estimate) [9].

High-level nuclear waste reserves its toxic capacity far too long to be released into the environment, which is why deep underground entombment is considered the best long-term solution for the disposal of these substances.
 

Low-Level nuclear waste disposal

Low-level nuclear waste refers to materials that have been contaminated as a result of secondary radioactive exposures. While they shouldn’t be handled when they’re still “hot,” they aren’t as potent or hazardous as the byproducts of nuclear energy production.

Hospitals, factories and private or government laboratories are frequent sources of low-level nuclear waste, which is also produced in some quantity by activities connected to the nuclear fuel cycle [10]. Depending on the extent of the contamination and the rate of radioactive decay, low-level nuclear waste may be stored onsite until it is safe for normal disposal in landfills, or it may be sent to special protective facilities that dispose of low-level waste underground.

Where does the United States store nuclear waste?

At the present time, high-level nuclear waste produced inside nuclear power plants in the United States is stored onsite, since there are no centralized nuclear waste repositories anywhere in the country. In fact, no country that relies on nuclear energy has constructed such facilities, and only in Finland is one even under construction [11].
 

Proposed nuclear waste disposal sites

After considering a number of locations, in 1987 the U.S. Congress chose Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the site for a permanent underground nuclear waste repository [12].

The proposed repository would have been large enough to accept waste shipped from all of the country’s nuclear power plants, and was believed to be a safe location because it is in the middle of the Nevada desert hundred of miles from any large settlement.

But the project never got off the ground. It was derailed by state lawsuits, widespread resistance from Nevada residents and independent geological studies that suggested the Yucca Mountain site might be more prone to volcanic activities and water erosion than previously believed [13].

Bowing to public pressure, the Yucca Mountain site was abandoned by the Obama Administration, which called for the establishment of a commission to find a more appropriate location for the repository [14]. But no such commission has been formed, and many in Congress and the nuclear industry are still pushing the Yucca Mountain location as the most viable solution.

Historically, a picnic basket was literally a basket used to transport food and other supplies to have a meal, usually lunch, out in nature. These days most picnic baskets are more like backpacks, but their fundamental purpose — to transport food, plates, drink, and cutlery — remains the same. Relax and enjoy quality time with friends, family or corporate picnic Sydney with your colleagues in Sydney’s favourite garden.

Classic-style picnic baskets are still available from a number of producers. These baskets are usually made of wicker or a similar material. They consist of a single large storage space, usually with a handle and flaps that open at both ends on the top. These baskets are suitable for transporting food and liquid relatively short distances, but temperature control is not possible and often the food will undergo some trauma. More advanced wicker picnic baskets, such as English style hampers, have clips on the inside to hold plates, utensils, and a large picnic cloth.

Picnic totes are the other basic type of picnic basket available on the market. These serve essentially the same function as a traditional picnic basket, but more closely resemble a backpack. They come equipped with a wide array of clips and sleeves for all manner of flatware, napkins, cloths, and plates. They also usually have holsters on the side or front to hold bottles of wine or juice. The obvious advantage of a tote over a traditional basket is the greatly reduced difficulty in carrying it for long distances, as the weight is much better distributed. Additionally, totes are usually well padded to help protect the food from damage during transport.

More expensive totes include systems to help regulate the temperature of food and liquid being transported. This may involve heavy insulation on the entire tote, or different areas for hot and cold food. Many totes, even those which don’t regulate the temperature of the food, have insulation on their wine sleeves to ensure that the wine remains at its appropriate temperature.

Picnic baskets and picnic totes come in all manner of shapes, sizes and colors. Varieties are available for specific functions, such as plastic beach totes. Prices vary drastically, from US$20 for a simple traditional basket to over US$300 for a well-insulated, durable picnic tote.

A wide range of picnic accessories are also usually available wherever picnic baskets are sold. Accessories may include disposable utensils, unbreakable plates, cushioned cloths for place settings, and a variety of thermoses — including those designed especially for serving wine. Go here for more information about picnic.

When you have your own helicopter and guide, you do heli skiing Canada or ride what you want, when you want—from epic chutes and perfectly spaced trees to stunning alpine bowls and runs of up to 4,500 vertical. Cores, edges, sidewall, topsheet. That’s just the beginning of a ski’s construction elements. What are they, and why are they important to you when you get on the snow? We’re breaking it down so you can impress your friends on the lift.

Previously, our ski design guru Olaf took you through the definitions of Camber, Rocker, Sidecut and Taper, so now you should have a basic understanding of how the shape of your ski interacts with the snow. This time, we’re discussing the anatomy (or guts) of your ski, and the role that each piece plays.

The best way to do this is to chop a ski in half, and start from the bottom, up. Don’t literally do that on your own, that’s just a waste of a good ski.

THE BASE

People constantly say “Well aren’t bases just P-Tex?” They’re wrong, but think of P-Tex as a brand name, kind of like  ChapStick – except in this case it isn’t some glorious lip moisturizer, it’s actually a brand name of Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMW-PE). This is a very durable plastic product that has micro-pores that open to accept wax, and contract to hold it there. It’s great because it performs well at a variety of temperatures, and is very easy to bond to when producing the skis. The biggest conversation we hear everyone talk about is extruded vs. sintered, and a common misconception is that they are a different material. Nope! This designation refers to how the UHMW-PE is made in to sheets. The first method, extruded, is much like pasta where a large amount of viscous material is pushed through an opening to make a sheet. Sintered material combines the PE on a molecular level at a temperature and pressure just short of melting, so that the material never actually becomes viscous. For both methods of production there are different molecular weight finished products, the general rule of thumb is the higher weight the less porous and faster the base.

EDGES

I will start off with a broad statement that may come as a shock to most of you, but all edges are created equal. Believe it or not, but there are only two widely used ski and snowboard edge producers in the world. What we do have control of, however, are how our edge teeth are configured and the Rockwell hardness of the steel (and in some cases further heat treatment of the edges). Edge teeth refers to the portion of the ski edge which you can’t see, because it’s embedded in to the ski. This is what holds your edge tight between your base and your core (along with rubber which we’ll discuss later). In almost all cases that I’ve found, the thickness of this section is 0.7mm thick, but what we do have control over is the configuration of the teeth. Here, at Armada, we use a solid rail with perforations, rather than what you might typically see as a “T” type tooth. We do this so that in the event your edge cracks, there is a greater chance of the edge staying in tact rather than being ripped out. Then the basic dimensions you have are the height, width, and step.  The height refers to the overall height of the edge, the step refers to the height of the edge where the base will occupy, and the width refers to the measurement of the edge that contacts the snow.

The hardness of the steel is also a measurable characteristic, and most edges you see are going to be Rockwell Hardness 48 on the C scale. This hardness is determined by a standardized test in which a machine indents the steel, and they are broken down in to 7 categories (A-G).  Some companies use softer metal on their park skis to promote deformation rather than cracking.

RUBBER

The rubber in your skis serves two purposes: the first is to create a bonding (or shear) layer in between two materials that either don’t like to bond, or undergo lots of different stresses. The first, and most important place for this is above your edges and underneath the first composite layer. Without this layer, all of the chattering and vibration that your edges see when they interact with the snow would likely cause the bond between the edge and the composite to break, tearing out your edge. You will also see rubber placed in the binding mounting area, to promote further bonding between the topsheet and top layer of composite. The second function of the rubber is for vibration dampening, which as you can guess from the description above, goes hand in hand with its “shear layer” characteristics.

LOWER COMPOSITE LAYER

We’ve arrived at the first of two of our composites layers, probably the easiest layer to modify and the hardest to understand. Your composites layers are comprised of fabrics (like fiberglass, carbon, aramid, Kevlar, etc.) with all of their pores and voids being saturated (and constrained) by epoxy. Composite fibers are most generally placed in one of 4 directions: 0° (parallel to the ski length), 90° (perpendicular to the ski length), and + or – 45° (though getting weaves at different angles is becoming easier and easier). 0° fibers give strength to the ski in the way that most people would think, longitudinally (think of the first way you always test a skis flex). 0° fibers help the most in wider skis in keeping the whole ski flat. With a lack of fibers in this direction, it’s likely that the ski can cup during production because of the heat changes and internal strain during the epoxy curing stage. + and – 45° fibers can be very useful, as they can aid in longitudinal stiffness, flatness, and torsional strength, as they have a portion of their strength going on both directions, parallel to the length of the ski, and perpendicular.

It should be noted that these composites layer would have no purpose if it wasn’t for the epoxy system used during the layup of the ski. The epoxy consists of a resin and a hardener which are mixed together just prior to layup and used to “glue” all of the layers together. All of the voids in the fiberglass must be filled to constrain the fibers after the epoxy hardens, and this constraint gives them their strength.

THE CORE

There are three main functions of your ski’s core: the first is to act as a spacer between the composites layers of the ski. The further apart these two composite layers are (or thicker the ski), the more effect they are going to have on the flex, and stiffer the ski will be. The second function of the core is to provide dampening, denser materials (hardwoods) will provide more dampening between the composites than a softwood or a foam. The third function is binding retention, which is why you will often see hardwoods under foot where the screws will be placed for your bindings. This is generally why cores are a mix of heavy and light woods, with the heavy, dense woods underfoot (ash, maple, oak, etc.), or at the center of the ski, and the light woods (poplar, aspen, paulownia, etc.) everywhere else to keep the mass down.

SIDEWALLS

Sidewalls provide a number of functions, the most important two being waterproofing the ski, and second being providing impact durability. It’s argued that a full length sidewall ski provides better edge pressure in a turn over a cap ski, but in reality the amount of material over the edge is very similar, and probably not even a measurable factor for the average skier. In fact, sidewalls being what we might call a “dumb” material (meaning that it provides no flexural integrity to the ski, and really only weight), limiting the amount of sidewall in the ski is the biggest goal. One if its positive factors, waterproofing the ski, comes in to play because if the core simply extended through, it would be exposed to the elements. With sidewalls in its place, you have essentially encapsulated the entire core (which is susceptible to water damage) in an envelope of plastic, or non-permeable materials. The second is impact protection, as both fiberglass and your core aren’t very good with impacts, placing a sidewall material like UHMW-PE or ABS and absorb some of the impact, and possible give a more durable product. The alternative to sidewalls is a cap construction, in which the topsheet and fiberglass wrap around the edge of the core and terminate at the edge, still encapsulating the core as well. This construction is lighter, but can be perceived as cheap, as it doesn’t include any sidewall materials. We at Armada have chosen a hybrid sidewall/cap construction with our AR50 sidewalls, placing sidewall underfoot where you need it, and capping the nose and tail to keep swing weight down.

UPPER COMPOSITE LAYER

Most of the time this layer is the same or very similar to your lower composite layer so that there isn’t any warping or twisting due to different masses during curing. Generally, the upper composite layer will include some extra fiberglass underfoot (called a “binding mat”) to aid in screw retention.

TOPSHEET

Ah yes, the last stop on our trip and most definitely the prettiest. The topsheet mostly consists of a sublimation graphic (an image essentially baked in to the backside of the plastic), screen printed designs, or a combination of both. After the graphic is applied, the topsheet must be heat treated so that the pores are prepared for bonding. Then the plastic (generally a nylon, TPU, PE, or combination of the above) is placed as the final layer of our layup.