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Speakers at the symposium shared the head table with a sample guayule plant
Development prospects for guayule improve Prospects for future commercial via bility of guayule—the desert shrub with potential as a domestic source of natural rubber—improved a notch last week in Washington, D.C. As the week got under way, markup was completed on a bill in the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works that would provide $30 million over the next four years for develop ment work on guayule. In a separate activity shortly after, guayule gained the publicity spotlight at a minisym posium on the plant's development prospects. Guayule has a broad appeal. And the symposium, sponsored by the Washington Rubber Group, a part of the American Chemical Society's Division of Rubber Chemistry, brought together a panel representing the many and varied interests: in dustrial, Congressional, agricultural, defense, preparedness, and Indian interests. The guayule bandwagon got rolling about a year ago, when the National Academy of Sciences issued a report recommending that the U.S. initiate an R&D program to commercialize guayule rubber. Mexico has been op erating a pilot facility at Saltillo that can process a ton a day of guayule. The current interest in guayule is actually a resurgence of interest. The U.S. initiated a cultivation program during World War II but with suc cessful development of synthetic rubber abandoned the effort. Now the plant is being seen as a way to decrease dependence on for eign sources for the natural rubber that plays a vital role in the rubber industry. As a cash crop, it also is visualized as a source of economic development for severely depressed I
Indian reservations of the Southwest. And the symposium heard from Ed ward Zabrowski, chief of the stockpile policy and objectives division of the Federal Preparedness Agency, that successful development of guayule rubber would reduce stockpile needs of natural rubber by 3 lb for every pound of production brought on line. Currently, about 100,000 long tons of rubber is stockpiled, with a goal set for more than 500,000 long tons. Industrial interest is growing as well. Goodyear Tire & Rubber, for example, which used more than 350,000 long tons of natural rubber in 1977 (about 10% of world consump tion), has made studies of guayule rubber obtained from Saltillo. Jack Riedl, general manager of Goodyear's plantation operations, told the Washington symposium that the studies showed no significant struc tural differences between extracted and purified guayule rubber and hevea rubber. Guayule lacks hevea's beneficial "impurities" such as nat ural antioxidants, proteins, and amino acids, and contains resins that must be removed. But, Riedl says, this is entirely correctable with the technology available today. Congressional passage of the Sen ate bill would give R&D on agricul tural and processing techniques for guayule a good boost. The bill would provide $5 million each for 1979 and 1980 and $10 million each for 1981 and 1982. It would authorize the Secretary of Commerce to carry out the program. D
Geologic questions fog nuclear waste disposal Consensus seems to be forming that high-level radioactive wastes even tually will be disposed of under ground in stable geologic formations. A newly released report from the U.S. Geological Survey, however, makes clear that not as much is known as needs to be about potential waste disposal sites. "We do not intend to slight the extensive effort currently going for ward to find safe repositories," the report's authors state. But "the dif ficulties and uncertainties connected with the geologic disposal of highlevel radioactive waste . . . are signif icant potential stumbling blocks that need critical attention." An example of the uncertainties cited by the five hydrologists and ge ologists who prepared the report is the effect that heat from the nuclear wastes will have on surrounding rock. Increased temperatures would de crease the mechanical strength of salt
formations that might be used for waste storage. Hydrated minerals might be broken down, releasing water and volatile gases. Water flow in the area surrounding the repository also might be significantly changed. Until these effects are better under stood, it may be necessary to restrict underground disposal to lower tem perature wastes, the authors suggest. The report suggests five specific targets for future research. First, many questions need to be answered about the behavior of rock salt. Sec ond, other media, such as shale and crystalline rock, need to be further examined. Third, costly and timeconsuming studies of groundwater transport around potential reposito ries need to be made. Fourth, more tools to evaluate potential reposito ries need to be developed. And fifth, more research needs to be done on the effects on the surrounding environ ment of developing the repository it self. To counteract the uncertainties that persist about geologic contain ment, the report recommends a mul tiple barrier or "defense in depth" approach to radionuclide disposal. This approach would provide several independent barriers to the move ment of radioactive wastes. These might include a waste form that is resistant to attack by groundwater or material packed around the waste that adsorbs the toxic radionu clides. Copies of the report, "Geologic Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Wastes—Earth-Science Perspec tive," USGS Circular 779, are avail able from the Branch of Distribution, USGS, 1200 S. Eads St., Arlington, Va. 22202. D
Allegheny Ludlum sells Chemetron gas division Apparently Allegheny Ludlum wanted Chemetron for reasons other than its industrial gases business. Last week, Allegheny Ludlum an nounced that it will divest the gases division that it acquired when it took over Chemetron in late 1977. The buyer will be Liquid Air of North America, which is 78% owned by France's Société Air Liquide. Air Liquide is the world's largest producer of industrial gases and industrial gas equipment. Under terms of the agreement in principle reached by the two companies, Allegheny Ludlum will acquire a one third interest in Liquid Air. The deal with Liquid Air excludes Chemetron's Cardox carbon dioxide operations. May 8, 1978 C&EN
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