Archaeological analogs and the future of nuclear waste glass
The nuclear waste problem has generated a lot of research. Fusing the waste into glass is a promising avenue because glass is chemically inert and lasts a long time. Obsidian and Libyan desert glass (~29 million years old) show us just how long.
Ceramics are a little trickier, but the Venus of Dolní Věstonice is 28,000 years old and Jomon pottery is 16,000 years old and both are in fine shape.
Plastics and aluminum are almost purely speculation because they haven't been around long enough to really know, with the possible exception of 3rd century Chinese aluminum artifacts:
Aluminium Objects from a Jin Dynasty Tomb–Can They Be Authentic?
Anthony R Butler, Christopher Glidewell, Sharee E Pritchard
It's disputed mostly because no one knows how they would have made aluminum in the 3rd century. (Standard we only managed it recently, therefore they couldn't have done it at all)
But pure aluminum oxidizes rapidly and aluminum oxide, also known as sapphire, which is insoluble, is very durable, and is known to last a very long time.
Plastics? I've seen from 500 years to forever. Some biodegrade, some photodegrade, and some we just don't know.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2023-06-04 08:43 pm (UTC)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022311510005040
Archaeological analogs and the future of nuclear waste glass
The nuclear waste problem has generated a lot of research. Fusing the waste into glass is a promising avenue because glass is chemically inert and lasts a long time. Obsidian and Libyan desert glass (~29 million years old) show us just how long.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_desert_glass
Ceramics are a little trickier, but the Venus of Dolní Věstonice is 28,000 years old and Jomon pottery is 16,000 years old and both are in fine shape.
Plastics and aluminum are almost purely speculation because they haven't been around long enough to really know, with the possible exception of 3rd century Chinese aluminum artifacts:
Aluminium Objects from a Jin Dynasty Tomb–Can They Be Authentic?
Anthony R Butler, Christopher Glidewell, Sharee E Pritchard
It's disputed mostly because no one knows how they would have made aluminum in the 3rd century. (Standard we only managed it recently, therefore they couldn't have done it at all)
But pure aluminum oxidizes rapidly and aluminum oxide, also known as sapphire, which is insoluble, is very durable, and is known to last a very long time.
Plastics? I've seen from 500 years to forever. Some biodegrade, some photodegrade, and some we just don't know.
Unofficial, unsourced list of how long things last: https://stacker.com/environment/how-long-it-takes-50-common-items-decompose