The principle behind its operation is as simple as it gets. The device works like a press, squashing the bottle from above. There is also an electrical heating component, which helps melt the PET. Thus, the bottle is heat-squashed, just like an accordion. Its output is quite good, as it can crush a bottle in 20 seconds, and it consumes 1000 Watts per hour. This little compactor can crush 10 bottles one after the other, after which it needs a little rest, in order to cool down. No harmful chemicals are released during the compacting process.

It is important to remove the label and the cap before crushing a plastic bottle, as these elements are recycled separately. After compacting, bottles can be sold to a collecting centre, where they will be recycled by using a process which involves washing and grinding. The result is known as plastic flakes, and is the raw material for manufacturing new plastic items, packaging, etc.

Compacting plastic before collecting is very useful, because it significantly decreases the volume that it takes up, thus allowing for more plastic waste to be collected and transported. Additionally, transport time and costs are reduced, which helps collecting firms and saves fuel.

The product can be bought on-line or from larger supermarkets at a price of around 200 lei (50 Euros).

Below we can click to see the full process of waste compacting using this device.

Compactare PET-uri

Photo source: Foto1, Foto2, Foto3

Source info

Article written by Bogdan Olariu and translated by Mihail Mitoșeriu.

Among all the waste in our households, I think plastic is the nastiest and should concern us the most! Why? Because it’s non-biodegradable and its poor management will lead to mountains of trash (watch Wall-E to have a picture of that). Well, if we could only stop to that. But in fact, humans are even more wicked- they also send their plastic trash somewhere they cannot see it anymore… Out of sight- out of mind…

We allow our plastic-useless-former belongings to rest in a beautiful location, a place to which Earth owes being named „The BLUE Planet”. Yep… The Oceans. According to Greenpeace studies, 100 million tons of plastic are produced annually, from which 10% get into the planet’s oceans (80% of these coming from land- the other 20% coming from uneducated pirates).

One of the most severe examples of plastic pollution is the Pacific Garbage Patch (or the Pacific Trash Vortex) – in short PGP. This patch is an alarming phenomenon in the North Pacific, a huge vortex containing different plastic materials in small sizes, floating in the neustonic layer of the water (the surface layer- that is). We can clearly state that the PGP is one of the largest trash bins in the world (and it’s getting even larger!).

When they hear about the PGP, many people imagine that the water surface is covered in large size trash, as shown in this picture:

It’s not like that at all! The PGP is in reality a big soup of “millions of small and microscopic pieces of plastic”. Although researchers have found large plastic items as well, it’s the small ones (the size of a finger nail) that predominate. It’s not the size of the individual items that is concerning, but the small particles altogether! (To find out more about research results- check out this article and watch the video).

Sample from the PGP. Source: protecttheocean.com

PGP water sample. Photo source: knowledge.allianz.com

How does the PGP “work”? Significant quantities of small waste particles that come from land are brought into the ocean by the North Pacific Current, and then the surface currents (produced by the wind) catch the trash into a trap-like spiral, from which they cannot escape. Basically, the edges of the patch are active and attract more and more floating pieces, while the centre is calm and full of trash that will be stuck there forever.

Why is this plastic soup dangerous for the environment? Here are the main issues, I’ll try to explain them in short, since you took the time to read them and haven’t skipped to the conclusion yet.

- Disturbances in food chains: the tiny plastic particles are easily mistaken for phytoplankton, therefore animals such as Phoebastria nigripes (a species of albatross) or sea turtles can die due to ingestion of plastic. Check out this shaking video made by Chris Jordan!

- „Toxic sponge”: plastic particles are not biodegradable, but they are photodegradable- which is bad! It means light (and it’s plenty of it in the euphotic zone) helps them decompose to even smaller levels (molecular levels), transforming them into bisphenol A, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s) and polystyrene derivatives, which are toxic and bioaccumulate in marine organisms! Therefore, once these molecules are consumed by the phytoplankton, they become part of the food chain and can eventually get into your yummy ocean fish dinner. Feed on that!

- Scary death traps (how awful is it to die like that??): a lot of various unlucky species get entangled in plastic trash (such as discarded fishing nets and nylon lines)… The followers of Jesus were fishermen, but now we’ve brought fishing to a whole new level… And let’s not forget the plastic bags- they are the new trend! Dolphins wear the fashionable “Thanks for shopping with us” around their necks…

[By the way- WHY ON EARTH would producers wrap Pomelo fruit individually in that unattractive plastic net?? Can someone explain this to me, please? I haven’t found an answer yet and my blood pressure gets high when I pass by the fruit isle…]

Research has shown that over one million marine birds and a hundred thousand marine mammals and turtles die annually due to plastic pollution (UNEP, 2006).

This image is already popular…
Source: wewillblowyourmind.blogspot.com

- Free rides for hitch-hiking organisms: larger floating objects (plastic recipients) can facilitate the transport of invasive species (“ocean hitch-hikers”- such as water skater insects, small crabs, barnacles) to other habitats or onto ship hulls, causing a lot of damage.

Conclusion

The Pacific Garbage Patch is a huge deposit of stinky indifference, sheer rudeness and big fat selfishness from our part… a burden that torments spectacular life forms, marine and winged alike.  Unless you make Robo-Caps (see photo album), plastic is not a resource to mess around with!

Let’s come back to the pharmacy story.

Why shouldn’t I take the plastic bag I was offered for free? You’ll say that this specific bag will not get from Romania all the way into the Pacific. Then what might happen to it?

Well, it might:

-  get to Glina (a Romanian not-so-well-managed waste deposit) and stay there for many many years, until Wall-E comes to the rescue;

- get into the Black Sea (along with our other many sins washed by the rain and carried by the rivers);

- get into a mail package I might be sending to my uncle Aurica in Canada, and from there, perhaps in the Pacific;

-  get recycled if I feel a little creative- but how many ideas can one have for so many bags?

-  Or I might not take it in the first place… (and if you do the same, they might not offer plastic bags anymore- NO TRADING- NO PRODUCTION!).

“- Thanks a lot, but I’d rather put the bottle in my backpack!”

[citeste aici varianta asemanatoare in limba romana]

Documentation

• UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), RegionalSeas Report and Studies, Ecosystems and Biodiversity in Deep Waters and High Seas No. 17, 2006
• Greenpeace.org
• Scripps Institution-  marine biologist Miriam Goldstein, research results
• Time to get drastic about plastic
• Chris Jordan http://www.midwayfilm.com/

Let’s begin with the easy part:

History of CNE (Centrala NuclearElectrică – Nuclear Power Station) Cernavodă  

-          1979 – Construction works begin

-          1996 – The first reactor becomes operational

-          2007 – The second reactor becomes operational

According to www.cne.ro, each reactor at Cernavodă nuclear power station provides 706, 5/Mwe to the National Energy System, thus covering about 18% of the present national energy requirement.

CNE Cernavoda. Sursă foto: www.nuclearelectrica.ro

How it works

The Cernavodă Power station uses Canadian technology, which is based on the CANDU (CANadian Deuterium Uranium). As the name suggests, such a reactor operates with natural uranium and heavy water (a chemical compound of deuterium) as a moderator and cooling agent.

Deuterium is a stable isotope of hydrogen, with a mass number of 2 and is represented by the chemical symbol D or ²H. Heavy water (D₂O or ²H₂O) differs from ordinary water by the fact that it has in its composition the isotope deuterium in a greater proportion.

Operating a nuclear power plant is based on initiating and maintaining a controlled nuclear fission chain reaction, a process which can be achieved in a nuclear reactor. The core of the reactor contains the fuel and has the shape of a cylindrical vessel called a Calandria vessel. The nuclear fuel used is made up of synthesized nuclear dioxide pellets, which are inserted into rods made of zircaloy. Thirty-seven such rods form a fuel bundle. The fuel bundles are, in turn, inserted into pressure channels (there are 380 channels with 12 bundles each). In total, the core of the reactor holds about 90 tons of nuclear fuel.

Combustibil nuclear. Sursă: raport de mediu 2010, nuclearelectrica.ro

In brief – the Calandria vessel is composed of 380 pressure channels, each one holding 12 fuel bundles, and each fuel bundle being made of 37 fuel rods of synthesized uranium dioxide pellets, which totals 90 tons of nuclear fuel.

The fission reaction taking place inside the pressure channels generates heat, which is absorbed by the heavy water running through the fuel channels. The heavy water then transfers the heat to the steam generators, which, as their name suggests, create water vapors (from ordinary water) that expand and drive the turbine and create electricity.

When it exits the turbine, the steam is condensed inside the condenser which is cooled with water from the Danube – Black SeaCanal. The water used to cool the condenser is then evacuated back into the Danube.

Safety  

In case there is a technical malfunction, the reactor can be quickly shut down by means of two safety stopping mechanisms which operate independently (using different functioning principles). Additionally, the parts of the reactor where the fission reaction and the generation of radioactive materials occur are situated inside a sealed structure made of prestressed concrete called the containment building.

Another safety feature is the fact that every control element of the power station has a backup system which can take over its function in case of a breakdown.

Environmental protection 

The main effects on the environment are created by the evacuation of the water used for cooling (which has a high temperature that can harm the ecosystem of the Danube) and the radioactive waste. The radiological impact (measured in terms of dosage received by the population) proved to be negligible (a supplementary dose of 10 μSv/year – five times less than the dose received after a taking an X-ray exam, according to the 2011 Environmental Report).

Sursă: raport de mediu 2011, www.cne.ro

It is important to mention that the Environmental Management System of the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant has received the ISO 14001 Certification in 2004, and was recertified in 2010, after the addition of Reactor number 2. This means that the measures used for protecting the environment are well prepared.

a) The cooling water

The use of cooling water is the main difference between a CANDU – type uranium based reactor and a thorium – based nuclear reactor (which is, in many aspects, much more efficient). But the differences between the two types will be discussed another day. Here, you can read more about thorium – based reactors.

Cernavodă is authorized to use for cooling the waters of the Danube, collected through the Danube – Black SeaCanal, and released back into the river after having cooled down the reactors. The volume of water taken from the river and the temperature of the hot water dumped back into the Danube are the two main factors that can impact the aquatic environment. This is why these two parameters must be closely monitored and the conditions required for this activity are laid down in the ,,Agreement regarding the methodology employed for monitoring the usage of the water resources and the returning of the used waters into the water resources” concluded between the Water Administration Agency – Dobrogea-Litoral Constanta and CNE Cernavodă (which is an integral part of the water management authorization). According to the 2010 Environmental report, there were no violations of the conditions imposed by the environmental authorization.

b) Chemical and radioactive emissions in the water

Concerning these aspects, the evacuation of water into the river can be stopped by a special mechanism, in case certain parameters are exceeded, thus avoiding to surpass the maximum limits allowed for radioactive and chemical emissions. In addition, 1400 water samples are analyzed each year by the Dosimetry Laboratory in order to determine the amount of radioactivity evacuated. The 2010 Environmental Report states that the maximum limits for emissions have never been exceeded during the entire period the power plant has been active. Also, neither the emissions of non-radioactive substances have ever risen above the maximum allowed concentrations.

c) Radioactive waste  

These waste materials are the result of the daily operation of the plant, such as maintenance or repair works or interruptions. Such substances are dangerous and require special handling. They present themselves as solids (filters, plastics, and glass), organic liquids (oils, solvents) or liquid-solid flammable mixtures. Liquid waste is solidified to reduce the risk of a fire and some solids are compacted so that they take up less space. All waste materials are sorted following certain criteria, stored in stainless steel containers and then shipped to an intermediary storage facility. Often, less radioactive materials are transported (in exchange for a fee) to countries that possess technologies to treat the waste (such as Sweden – for cremation – but this process only reduces the volume of the waste materials, and the remains are then sent back for final storage). In the final storage phase, the waste is placed in compact molds that guarantee safe storage for 300 years. An important institution involved in the final storage phase (but also with important attributions in the field of nuclear energy) is Agenţia Nucleară şi pentru Deşeuri Radioactive – ANDRAD (The Nuclear and Nuclear Waste Agency – www.andrad.ro).

Another interesting problem is the intermediary storage of the spent fuel. This is done for a period of at least 50 years in a special deposit (Depozitul Intermediar pentru Combustibil Ars – DICA – The Intermediary Deposit for Spent Fuel). Here, several physical processes occur which help keep the bundles of nuclear fuel in safety (that is without any gaseous or liquid leaks).

DICA- Depozit Intermediar pentru Combustibil Ars. Sursă: nuclearelectrica.ro

d) Atmospheric protection

For all nuclear power plants, there are no CO₂ emissions. Replacing the amount of energy produced at Cernavodă with energy obtained from fossil fuels would increase the annual national CO₂ output by 10 million tons (according to www.cne.ro)

Emergency situations                

Canadian – designed nuclear power stations are known for their safety, and have the technology necessary to reduce the risk of accidents. Still, periodic drills are conducted in order to prepare the workers, and also the population, for an emergency situation.

Conclusion  

Judging from the data presented by NuclearElectrica on official websites and in the pages of environmental reports, one can affirm that Cernavodă is an important energy source that at the moment does not present any cause for concern. We can only hope that mother–nature will be kind to us, sparing the region of earthquakes and other unpredictable events which could pose a nuclear threat for the life of the population.

Bibliography  

www.cne.ro

www.nuclearelectrica.ro

www.andrad.ro

Environmental reports http://www.cne.ro/m/aspx?id=86&it=2    

Article written by the editor Ioana Stoicescu and translated by the associated editor of Greenly Magazine, Mihail Andreas Mitoseriu