What would happen if you put radioactive waste into a volcano?

[padanarm]

What would happen if you disposed of radioactive waste in an active volcano? Would the radioactive decay be increased by the extreme heat or would you simply end up with radioactive lava?

[mollykins]

I thought that nothing could stop radio active decay. . . . . . . . . . But i'm not sure

[R1Geezer]

Depends what the materal is but mostly it would vapourise into radioactive gas and drift around the atmosphere for thousands of years. Not good, got any more bright ideas?

[padanarm]

Oh dear, I'd better stop doing it now.

But seriously, would extreme heat increase the rate of radioactive decay?

[Androcles]

These two references may help answer your question. The first relates specifically to it, the second to disposing of canisters of nuclear waste below the surface.

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/phy00/ph y00543.htm

http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2003AM/finalprogram/ abstract_67379.htm

[Androcles]

I forgot to say, interesting question, padanarm!

[padanarm]

Thanks, Androcles, useful links. Never thought I'd find myself reading about coupled-process modeling and downward percolation flux on a Saturday morning. LOL.

So it seems that radioactivity is concerned with the nucleus and would be unlikely to be affected by normal temperatures and pressures on earth.

So what would happen if you disposed of nuclear waste in the sun...

[R1Geezer]

it would add to the radiation already present!

[Androcles]

The sun is so collosal, I doubt it would even register in the sun's output!

Downward percolation flux - at first, I thought it was something to do with my Saturday morning coffee!

[Rev. Green]

Until last month, I'd have answered that radioactive decay occurred at a constant rate, nothing - except bombarding with high-energy neutrons - could increase it. So putting radioactive waste into a volcano might spread it around but would not affect the rate.

However, recent results, at CERN, I think, have shown that radioactive decay can be increased by a factor of 1000 by vibration at ultrasonic frequencies. So any processes in the volcano which produce very high frequency whistles could have interesting results.

[Androcles]

Rev Green said: "So any processes in the volcano which produce very high frequency whistles could have interesting results. "

So no throwing the ref or certain pop groups in a volcano, then!