Some Comments on the Possibility of Thermodynamically Equilibrating Waste Organic Materials with Nuclear Devices

Nuclear explosions contained underground may be a way to produce hydrogen commercially from common waste organic materials. The idea is to use the explosion to heat the wastes to 2000°C or higher, temperatures at which hydrogen and car-bon monoxide are produced. Carbon monoxide can subsequently be used to obtain tritium-free additional hydrogen by oxidizing it with steam. Calculations are based on the pertinent thermodynamic equilibria, kinetics, and energy requirements.