reply to post by rjmelter
That is an excellent point and was also what I pointed out in 2 of my posts. Disease is one thing, and if we eventually are the victims of a
biological or chemical attack then burning the bodies/cremating will properly dispose of any biological or chemical agent. With radiation it is a
little different. And even if these vaults were somehow used to haul people en mass, they are plastic and are going to contaminate everything around
them anyway.
Entombment in concrete has been fairly effective in the past and a thick concrete wall will sheild the radiation at least to an acceptable degree (a
great example of this is Chernobyl). But there are some myths about radiation that people don't understand here. I was trained throughly in
biological, chemical, and nuclear attacks in the Air Force so I know more than the average joe on these subjects.
www.bt.cdc.gov...
How Radioactive Contamination Is Spread
People who are externally contaminated with radioactive material can contaminate other people or surfaces that they touch. For example, people who
have radioactive dust on their clothing may spread the radioactive dust when they sit in chairs or hug other people.
People who are internally contaminated can expose people near them to radiation from the radioactive material inside their bodies. The body fluids
(blood, sweat, urine) of an internally contaminated person can contain radioactive materials. Coming in contact with these body fluids can result in
contamination and/or exposure.
However people who have been exposed to radiation are not exactly going to spread it to other people. It depends on alot of different factors. If
people are exposed to radiation to the extent that they are able to spread it to other people through their body fluids, etc.. (such as after a
nuclear attack) then obviously the body would have to be properly disposed of and contained in some fashion.
a thin layer of plastic would not exactly be the most cost-effective or efficient way to achieve this.. and since NO polypropylene burial vault will
ever ensure a permanent seal or cave-ins then eventually the contamination is going to inevitably spread into the soil. The moisture that collects
inside this vault would eventually seep right back into the surrounding soil and possibly even into the groundwater.
Therefore, using such burial vaults for the application of radiocative containment of contaminated bodies is preposterous.. There is no way that ANY
plastic vault is going to stay sealed long enough for the radioactivity to deteriorate through it's half-life. And any contamination inside that
vault is then going to become another huge environmental catastrophy waiting to happen.
-ChriS
This is not containment..
[edit on 24-7-2008 by BlasteR]