Now Reading: US military turns stored radioactive waste into seabed power
-
01
US military turns stored radioactive waste into seabed power
The Pentagon is repurposing decades-old radioactive strontium-90 from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, into an underwater power grid for drones and sensors. The material, from a never-deployed 1980s generator called BUP-500, was transferred to…
The Story in Brief
The Pentagon is repurposing decades-old radioactive strontium-90 from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, into an underwater power grid for drones and sensors. The material, from a never-deployed 1980s generator called BUP-500, was transferred to Zeno Power, a Washington and Seattle-based firm, under a partnership with the Department of Energy. The Times of India reports the transfer accelerates clean-out of a scheduled-to-be-demolished storage facility, saving taxpayer money and reducing liability.
The project falls under the Pentagon's DEPTHS programme (Distributed Energy Provided Throughout the Seas), for which Zeno secured a $7.5 million contract in October 2023. Strontium-90 systems, paired with Stirling power conversion from Blue Origin and Sunpower, aim to charge autonomous submarines for up to 30 years without cables or servicing. Zeno is also developing similar technology for the lunar surface under a $15 million Nasa award.
The Indian Opinion
Turning a costly waste problem into a strategic asset sounds neat, but the narrative of 'clean nuclear energy' often skips the hard part: what happens when these seabed reactors decay or get damaged? Strontium-90 has a 28-year half-life, meaning the power nodes will eventually become toxic rubbish. The real test is not the technology demonstration but the long-term disposal plan. Will the Pentagon pay for cleanup decades later, or will the ocean floor become another forgotten dump?
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
