JAN 27

Perhaps the US will even clean up it's nuclear waste? Antarctica either belongs to the whole world, including the poor and irresponsible, or it belongs to Australia, New Zealand and Chile. The rest of you can rack off!

I agree. The US has no business in Antarctica. The rubbish and scrap strewn around the US base there is despicable and indicates the true attitude the US has to the world's environment. The US cannot be trusted to honour treaties.

Antarctica holds massive reserves of coal, oil and fresh water. Those resources belong to Australia, New Zealand and Chile.

You're both wrong, Antarctica belongs to the penguins!

Don´t forget Argentina, we are also down here.

Forget who owns what, just internationalize the bases like the space station - that way everyone has a say, and the treaties function at a practical level. There should be no "American" base, or "Austrailian" base, etc. The bases should be for peacetime research anyway, so there actually should be international cooperation anyway to help share knowledge/technology.

I research energy issues for www.energyplanusa.com . Rather that wind or solar, it seems to me this would be a perfect opportunity for the small nuclear reactors being developed by Hyperion in the USA. As I understand it, the reactor is buried deep in the ground for about 3 years, before it needs to be replaced by another.

Previous comments show a real lack of understanding of what actually goes on down there.

Firstly, The US has plenty of business in Antarctica, the US program supports and assists other nations Antarctic programs, without the US presence, a number of smaller programs would not be possible.

As an example the US program ferries the bulk of ALL research grantees and passengers to and from the ice, including New Zealanders.

Secondly nuclear power is banned from Antarctica under the terms of the international treaty. It is not permitted to have any form of nuclear power on the ice.

While I do take some issue with this and feel that nuclear would be a much cleaner and efficient form of energy than transporting huge amounts of diesel by boat to the ice.

Thirdly, regarding rubbish, ALL rubbish and waste is transported back off the ice in containers. Due to the season nature of getting supply vessels etc down there, perhaps it may be that the person who commented regarding rubbish saw a stockpile waiting to be sent northwards.

Forthly, International treaty prevents the exploitation of any natural resources in Antarctica, including oil and coal.

Last, there is a large element of co-operation between bases, without it many could not function. As another example in numerous cases the US program has provided resources such emergency med-evac to critically injured patients on the ice.

Marty
USAP

Thanks Martin, for some sense.

Martin,

The Americans conducted early experiments with nuclear power in Antarctica and just left it there. Thats what folks did back then! The French built airstrips in Penguin rookeries. My point is that the rich countries treat Antarctica as thier own and don't let the poor have a say. Antarctica is a global resource and my concern is that the first world will do what they always have, steal it! The treaties are worthless when signatories include Japan or the US. As always the good people of USA remain in the dark as to what is done in their name, stop being so damn arogant and try to listen to what the rest of the world has to say. All nations in Antarctica or all nations out!

Good work by the Antarctic bases. They could set a fine example for the rest of the planet. Good closing comment on this article -- any weaknesses of the technology found here will also help prevent problems in even more hostile environments, such as the moon and other planets, as we arrive there.

Thanks for the spin.

You know full well that it was only because of bad publicity that the US has recently attempted to 'clean' up McMurdo Base. For most of the time the US has treated Antarctica as a rubbish dump - this is fact. The US dumped large amounts of chemicals, human waste, discarded machinery, used sump and hydraulic oil into McMurdo Sound.

If the US was really concerned about it they would have mounted salvage operations to retrieve the crap from the bottom of the sounds. If is a case of what you can't see can't hurt you.

The US simply cannot be trusted to be a good global citizen.

Yes although it is common knowledge that the PM-3A nuclear reactor was operated by deep freeze from 1962 - 1972 it must be made very clear that it was initially commissioned in order to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

The single core (no larger than an oil drum) reactor with a nominal output of approx 1250 Kw reportedly resulted in savings on average of 1500 gallons of fuel per day. During cleanup along with the reactor itself some 7000 tons of rock and dirt were transported by the USS Towle back to California. So in fact there has been a clean-up and the waste returned to American soil.

While I do not discount that wrongs may have occurred in the past the fact of the matter is that ALL nations are now putting in a great deal of effort to ensure this pristine environment remains that way.

No one owns Antarctica and all countries have much to gain from the research happening down there. It is most definately not a closed shop. Anyone, anywhere can travel to Antarctica, either as a research grantee or as a private passenger on a commercial tourist excursion.

While the United States is a signatory to the Antarctic Treaty they do not have a territorial claim. As there are 46 signatories to the treaty (which covers 3/4 of the worlds population) I fail to see how it is closed to other nations.

Just my thoughts.

How can they use "solar thermal" in Antarctica? Sureley using PV is much better, where the light reflects off the ice and the cold keeps the panels at maximum efficiency...

I'm glad someone chimed in on the US involvement in Antarctica that actually knows what they're talking about. Thank you Martin.

I'm typing this right now from a kiosk computer at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. Five feet from me is a large group of Kiwis (New Zealanders) from Scott Base. They all flew in on a US C-17 and 100% of their supplies were transported on US Navy vessels. They come and hang out here for the social atmosphere that a larger station provides. You see them often eating in the Galley or working out in the gym. They don't pay a thing. We have a loose agreement to share costs and that's why they're fronting the bill on most of the wind turbine project.

During the year we've had researchers from all over the world shuttled in through McMurdo. Italians, Russians, British, and of course a huge number of Kiwis. We assisted with several medivacs at an enormous cost rescuing two badly burned works from a Russian station after a fire and an Australian who flipped an ATV. Those workers would be stranded without the air support we're able to provide.

As for the nuclear waste. The reactor is long long gone and all the equipment has been removed. We have a few large buildings near the station that used to house the reactor and support hardware. We use the buildings to store furniture and that is being removed so the buildings can be torn down. The whole project sounded like a great idea in the 60s, but it's not even an option anymore.

Trash. The Navy trashed this place in the 50s-70s. There was a dump where trash was burned in open pits (like the DoD still does in Iraq) Those days are over. Outside my room are about 10 bins I sort my trash into. Outside every work place are the same. Our trash is micromanaged to the extreme. Every year a supply ship shows up (it's coming tomorrow) and we offload cargo and load up our trash and retrograded equipment. We do consume a lot and a lot of that is related to the age of the station and the amount of heating we need in such an extreme environment. The first phase of the wind turbine project is going to greatly reduce our electricity demands. Also there are many projects on station to reduce our heating and electricity needs. There's a lot that can be done since many buildings are now 40+ years old.

Would 3 feet of snow comprmize the way a solar panel works? Wind would work very well there.