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From: whit@milton.u.washington.edu (John Whitmore)
Newsgroups: sci.energy,sci.electronics,sci.physics
Subject: Re: solar cells
Message-ID: <13687@milton.u.washington.edu>
Date: 3 Jan 91 02:44:36 GMT
References: <37448@cup.portal.com> <1991Jan2.015717.23554@amd.com> <37487@cup.portal.com>
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Lines: 32


 ... in response to discussion of toxicity of solar cells
>>why are chemical poisons, which last forever, more acceptable than
>
>  Chemical "poisons" can be broken down using current technology.

	Not true; the poisons in semiconductor manufacture, at least,
are As and other heavy metals.  These can be stored, but only
storage is possible.  Of course, these metals were toxic before
they were mined from the ground...

>>nuclear ones, which decay away? They are both invisible. They have both
>>been used to kill people.
>
>  Nuclear poisons can't be broken down by us.  They will decay over time, 
>but since we can break down chemical poisons it makes no sense whatsoever
>to create nuclear ones.

	This is false assurance; in any case, nuclear byproducts are 
shorter-lived toxins than simple chemically toxic heavy metals (they
break down in times of a few hours to days to months, and even the
worst of the wastes will die down in 200k years).  Also, the fuel
for the nuclear plants had a half life of some millions of years when
it was in the ground; burning it DID dispose of the U-235, though
at the expense of a lot of radioactive daughter products.

	Solar cells, by the way, are 100% silicon, and are NOT toxic.
Small amounts of aluminum for wire, and infinitesimal amounts of
phosphorous, boron, or other dopants, are not in any sense toxins
in the concentration that is used in semiconductor devices.

	John Whitmore