Thursday 3 August 2006

Double Decker Buses and Swimming Pools

I was watching a program not too long ago about Nuclear Power. Nuclear waste was on the agenda. It would appear that there is enough nuclear waste in the UK to fill 200 Olympic sized swimming pools. Taking an Olympic pool to be 50m by 20 metres by an average depth of 2 metres the equals 2000 cubic metres of nuclear waste times two hundred lying a round doing not much other than sending the odd radio active particle now and then.

2000 times 200 = 400 000 cubic metres. Some of it will continue to send out particles for the next 132 000 years. Come back Global Warming; all is forgiven.

I had a look at the size of the double Decker buses that I drive and they are 10.504 m long, 4,2 m high and 2.55 m wide; total volume equals 112.5 cubic metres.

A little division sum 400 000 (the volume of all those swimming pools full of nice safe nuclear waste)/112.5 (the volume of my bus) = 3555 buses. Now lets say that the Government decide, and lets face it governments have done daft things before, to load all that nuclear waste into buses and drive them down to Berry Head and dump it. If the buses pass through Torquay on the way to Berry Head at the rate of 8 an hour (the same rate the 12/12A pass through) then it will take 18 and a half days for all those buses to get past you while you wait at the bus stop for a bus not full of nuclear waste.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

so basically waiting 18 1/2 days for a clean bus with no mad people,

P.S. I am the person who said your blog was really good the day you took that photo of traffic wardens being too casual!

Anonymous said...

Are you bored by any chance Dave?

(aside)Been planning to get up to Torquay by getting he 12 from Newton station - be looking out for you! (aside ends)