Patent Number: 054988250
Section: summary

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates generally, as is indicated, to a plutonium and nuclear toxic waste storage depot and method and, more particularly, to a facility and a method for storing plutonium and nuclear toxic waste material by using a recirculating system in addition to a massive structure that is economically feasible. The invention also relates to encasement of asbestos, lead and other toxic waste by an encasing material that includes a resin and epsom salt, such as that sold under the trademark STAYTEX.RTM., for disposal in ordinary land fills Cross reference is made to copending, commonly owned U.S. Patent application Ser. No. 08/064,548, filed May 19, 1993, entitled Environmental Non-Toxic Encasement Systems for Covering In-Place Asbestos and Lead Paint, the entire disclosure of which hereby is incorporated by reference. Cross reference also is made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,122,203, the entire disclosure of which also hereby is incorporated by reference. BACKGROUND The storage of plutonium and nuclear toxic waste is becoming evermore a problem. A problem with plutonium and other nuclear waste is the need to store such waste for a very long time in view of the relatively long half-life of such material. For example, some nuclear waste material have a halfolife that is more than 100 years. Substantial exposure to nuclear material can be a health hazard and, in fact, can be fatal. One technique for storing plutonium and other nuclear waste has been to place the waste in a container and to bury the container. (Hereinbelow, reference to nuclear waste includes plutonium as well as other nuclear materials, especially those which emit nuclear radiation.) A disadvantage to this technique is the possibility that the container can rust or otherwise corrode, and the nuclear waste can leak. For example, if the nuclear waste were to leak into the ground, it could contaminate the ground water and eventually cause harm to animals, fish, vegetable life, and possibly to humans. Another disadvantage is that the radiation from the nuclear waste can too easily be emitted into the external environment causing a health hazard, for example. One technique for shielding nuclear waste has been to provide several inches, for example, at least three inches of lead shielding, to surround the nuclear waste. Such lead shielding tends to prevent the transmission of radiation to the external environment. Another technique has been to use at least three feet of water placed between the nuclear waste and the external environment to prevent transmission of radiation to the external environment. Storage of non-radioactive toxic waste also presents problems similar to those encountered with the storage of toxic nuclear waste. For example, if the toxic waste were placed in drums and buried, leakage due to rusting or corrosion can cause contamination of drinking water and other waters used by fish, animals and plant life. A difficulty encountered when storing toxic waste, whether nuclear or non-radioactive, is the heat often generated during storage. Excessive heat can trigger undesirable reactions, including the possibility of explosive activity. This, of course, is undesirable, as it tends to result in a release of the toxic waste to the external environment. One reason that nuclear waste has been buried in the ground in the past has been the good shielding provided by the ground. Also, prior above ground shelters considered for storing nuclear and other toxic waste contemplate or use concrete and metal wall and roofs; the heavy weight of the roof makes design and construction difficult and sturdiness of the structure questionable. If such structures are used, of necessity they must be small. Today there is no way permanently or substantially permanently to store large quantities of plutonium. Since 1988 over $20 billion has been spent by the U.S. Department of Energy for disposing of nuclear waste; but there has been no improvement in methods and techniques according the Secretary of the Department of Energy. However, when using the ground for shielding, a problem is encountered in the case of a spillage, leak, etc. of the primary containment medium, such as a metal drum or the like. Encasement using STAYTEX.RTM. material can be used for asbestos, lead, etc. for disposal in ordinary landfills. An example of such encasement is described in commonly owned pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/064,548 filed May 19, 1993. With the foregoing in mind, it will be appreciated that improvements in storage of toxic waste, both of the nuclear type and the non-radioactive type are desired. SUMMARY An aspect of the invention relates to the use of a fluid material, such as a slurry, which contains a material intended to receive and to collect nuclear radiation, while preferably also blocking transmission of the nuclear radiation, and precipitating out such material from the fluid material for subsequent storage of the precipitated material. An exemplary material contained in the fluid or slurry mentioned in the preceding paragraph is epsom salt; and, therefore, an aspect is the use of epsom salt as summarized in the preceding paragraph. Another aspect of the invention relates to a toxic waste storage depot where toxic waste can be stored, including a building have a portion located below ground, walls for bounding an interior space in the building, and fluid for removing thermal energy from the building and for providing radioactive shielding, at least as a part of the building. According to .another aspect of the invention, a toxic waste storage depot uses the shielding effect of the ground to tend to prevent leakage of radiation in combination with a fluid of specific gravity characteristics greater than those of water to provide both radioactive shielding and thermal energy removal functions. A further aspect relates to the use of fluid, such as water, in combination with epsom salt or MgSO.sub.4.7H.sub.2 O to provide relatively high specific gravity slurry material to effect radiation shielding and thermal energy removal from a toxic waste storage facility. An aspect of the invention relates to a method of effecting radiation shielding and thermal energy removal from a toxic waste storage facility including using water in combination with epsom salt to provide relatively high specific gravity slurry material to block transmission of radiation and to remove thermal energy. Another aspect relates to a method of removing radioactivity from the interior of a building by transporting radioactive material within a slurry and filtering out the then contaminated material outside the building, thus removing it in a continuous fluid recirculation system. A further aspect relates to a toxic waste storage facility including a building having a portion located below ground level, walls for bounding an interior space in the building, and fluid for removing thermal energy from the building and for providing radioactive shielding at least at part of the roof of the building. An additional aspect relates to a toxic waste depot method including using the shielding effect of the ground to tend to prevent leakage of radiation in combination with a fluid of specific gravity characteristic greater than that of water to provide both radioactive shielding and thermal energy removal functions. Yet another aspect relates to a method of disposing of toxic material, such as asbestos, lead, and the like, including encasing the toxic material in a cured resin system including at least one liquid thermosetting resin having particulate solids dispersed therein, about 100% of the solids having a U.S. Standard mesh size of about 225 mesh or smaller and at least about 10% of the solids having a U.S. Standard mesh size of about 325 mesh or smaller, wherein the solids comprise crystalline hydrated inorganic salts, and placing the encased material in a conventional land fill. These and other objects, aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent as the following description proceeds. To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings setting forth in detail a certain illustrative embodiment of the invention. This embodiment is indicative, however, of but one of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed. Although the invention is shown and described with respect to a certain embodiment, it is obvious that equivalents and modifications will occur to others who have ordinary skill in the art upon reading and understanding the specification. The present invention includes all such equivalents and modifications and is limited only by the scope of the claims.