As the Light Dies (4 page)

Lars could tell by the body language that people were getting restless.

“
My point is that the time for action is well and truly well over due and we, here at Project Tree Cycle think we have the answer
.
”

Before Lars could say any more nuclear energy consultant Ryan Phillips spoke up
,“
We already have an endless supply of clean sustainable energy through nuclear power, but i
t’
s constantly overlooked because people are scared of the radioactive waste that can be rectified through engineering.

No one will spend the time or invest the money needed to engineer a safe disposal technique
,
severa
l
have been drawn up and blue prints made but tha
t’
s as far as it gets, ther
e’
s no funding
!
”

“
I agree
,”
added someone from the back.

“No
”
, said Lars
.“
Nuclear energy is not the answer. Yes it might produce clean energy while in use and within its lifespan but where do we put the deadly poisonous waste that remains afterwards? Waste that at an estimate remains deadly for tens of thousands of years
.
”

Behind the group another huge section of pipe rose up in to view as the platform sunk below it anchored to position within its own tunnel, no one realised, the spotlight was firmly on Lars!

“
Mr Aronstein, we hav
e
solved this problem
,”
boomed a deep voice from within the group. Then pushing through to the front the Swedish Prime Minster came in to view and faced Lars.

The stocky man smoothed down his suit after brushing passed people and said
,“
We have very nearly completed the last phase of construction on our nuclear waste disposal site tha
t’
s buried five hundred metres down in the bedrock in the north of our country. It will hold hundreds of thousands of tonnes of hazardous waste and keep it there out of har
m’
s way indefinitely, in zero maintenance, long term geological repository
.
”

“Exactly,”
added Ryan Phillips nodding and said
,“
The process is extremely underfunded
.
”

The platform passed another section of huge pipe.

“
Aha yes
,”
said Lars waving a hand
.“
But how fast can these places be constructed? This is being tried worldwide at the cost of Billions upon Billions but nuclear waste i
s
stil
l
piling up, and faster than deep enough holes can be dug in which to bury it. I
t’
s piling up so fast that by the time one of these subterranean dumps is finished you have enough toxic waste piled up to fill anothe
r
tw
o
dumps
.
Thank Go
d
nuclear projects are underfunded. If we ca
n’
t keep up with radioactive waste disposal now, then what hope do we have if we start producing even more? Not to mention that we have no idea how long the bedrock will contain the waste for. We have no way of telling how contaminated nuclear waste might degrade the rock surrounding it over time
.
”

Ryan Phillips had gone quiet while the Swedish Prime Minister shook his head red faced as Lars continued.

“
We know from numerous tests that nuclear waste remains hazardous for an estimated one hundred thousand year
s
‘at least’
and tha
t’
s not taking into account the length of time it would take for the environment to recover after a large scale exposure. Man has never built anything that has lasted that long, let alone anything to safely conceal such hazardous waste
!
”

“The bedrock has been there since the dawn of time,”
chided the Swedish Prime Minister still shaking his head.

Lars said
,
“Maybe
,
but it has
n’
t had giant holes dug out of it and then been filled with thousands of tonnes of radioactive waste before
!
”

Sven jumped in hoping to calm things before they got too heated
.
“
Hopefull
y
w
e’
ve solved that problem at Project Tree Cycle, and the days of burying waste hazardous or otherwise, or burning copious amounts of fossil fuels is drawing to an end
.
”

“Oh really!”
said the Swedish Prime Minister folding his arms
.“
Le
t’
s go and see shall we
?
”

“
Yes, lets
,”
said Lars, making Sven cringe.

Before anyone else said anything the platform dropped below a ceiling in the bedrock and the sides shot out in all directions away from the group on the platform taking everybod
y’
s breath away!

The shaft opened out all around them and the ground dropped away far below them forming an area twice the size as the dock they had descended from. It was enormous!

The group spread out as everyone moved over to the safety railing for a better look.

Lars and Sven listened to them as they watched in awe, amazed at the sheer scale of the operation as they dropped down to the base level docking station.

“
That was getting a little hot
!’
said Sven. Lars shrugged his shoulders
,“
I
t’
s to be expected
,”
he said, w
e’
re telling them that the
y’
re doing things wrong and no one likes to be told the
y’
re doing it wrong, especially by someone the
y’
ve never met and the
y’
ve invested billions doing it
!
”

The platform lowered past a layer of internal cranes and pulleys with impossibly thick chains looped through them. Ventilation shafts ran in all directions littered with vents that blew out cool air humming quietly. On the ground there was another observation office identical to the one in the upper leve
l’
s loading dock but this one had the addition of a tower sprouting up from it resembling an air control tower. Opposite there were two large parking bays, one for forklifts of varying size and other mobile lifting machines, and the other was for maintenance vehicles of varying shapes and sizes.

The platform landed softly and no one was happier than Jade Anderson, the Greenpeace representative, as she stepped off on to solid ground. She had been teetering on the edge of vomiting since the platform started to move. Opposite them behind the observation office was another section of the oversized grey pipe that disappeared in opposite directions down enormous tunnels that had been bored through the bed rock, a crew of men in orange boiler suits rode off down one of the tunnels in what looked like an oversized golf buggy with six wheels shod with balloon tyres. It sped off at quite a rate!

“
So, what is that thing part of
?”
asked the Defence Minister.

“I’
m about to show you
,”
said Lars and he started to make his way across the huge open floor towards the right hand tunnel that followed the giant pipe.

“
Please follow me
,”
he said walking briskly towards the tunnel and the group followed him as he walked with Sven leading the way in to the subterranean lair.

They walked along a designated pathway at the edge of the tunnel that ran parallel to the giant pipe and its maintenance levels looming high above them. There were constant murmurings from the group as they discussed their surroundings, its cost, who built it and how, without being known about. They mentioned the effect its construction might have to the local geography and ultimately what on earth it could be used for.

*****

Lars walked in silence partly listening to the comments being made behind him as the dock shrank behind them. The view ahead meanwhile did
n’
t change. It just seemed to reach on forever in to the distance gradually curving out of sight.

After a while of brisk walking when the dock behind them was only just visible Lars came to an abrupt stop beside a pair of double doors set into the tunnel wall.

He typed in a code on the small keypad beside the doors that read his fingerprint and scanned his retina at the same time
.
Beep
.
Lars pushed open one door and turned to Physicist David Smith who was standing right behind him and said
,“
This is where we make the magic
!
”

David did
n’
t answer, he just nodded and flashed a slight grin. Lars led them in.

They descended down a steel stairway in to a large dimly lit room. The floor was split up in to a grid of shoulder height baffle boards behind which people were busy at their desks beavering away quietly. Ahead of them the end wall had large monitors mounted up from end to end with a multitude of computer equipment below them with various gauges, blinking lights and what looked like sound monitors that were currently flat lined. The wall opposite had two large viewing windows with a glass door between them with another security keypad beside the handle.

Ecologist Philippe peered through the viewing windows curiously but could only make out hanging strobe lights and a multitude of pipes and cables.

Lars led them quietly through the baffle board maze to the end wall with the large monitors.

While everyone caught up behind him Lars switched on one of the monitors.

“
Gather round everyone
,”
he called visibly excited, beaming from ear to ear.

“
Right then
,”
he said
.“
This is our control room, where we calibrate, control, record, and review everything. There are other control rooms scattered around the facility but this is the main brain, any data recovered anywhere else in the facility get catalogued in here
.
”

“
Review what kind of everything
?”
asked the Defence Minister.

“I’
m getting to that
,”
said Lars
.“
Most of Project Tree Cycle, ninety percent in fact, is funded by the income generated by my computer game programming and security software business and the other ten percent comes fro
m
ou
r
Governmen
t’
s renewables research and development grants
.”
The Defence Minister shot a look at the Norwegian Prime minister and there were unsure murmurs and awkward glances among the group.

“
You knew about this
?”
barked the Defence Minister looking at the Norwegian Prime minister, he smiled and said
,“
Yes, and I think yo
u’
ll be very impressed at what these people have accomplished
.
”
“
We shall see
,”
said the Defence Minister.

“We shall,”
said Lars smiling and he turned to the monitor waving his hand across the visual command censor and an illuminated a keypad appeared just below the monitor on a narrow shelf. Lars started typing and the screen came to life.

“
Ok everyone yo
u’
re about to see a short film that will show in detail the whole of Project Tree Cycle as it currently stands, and briefly explain what it is that we do here. Please come closer so you can all see the screen clearly
!
”

A husky female voice began to narrate almost as soon as Lars finished saying carefull
y
.

“
Welcome to Project Tree Cycle
,”
said the husky voice, the words also came up along the bottom of the screen then in the centre of the screen a 3D cylindrical blue tube appeared growing from both ends, both ends rushed away from the centre and began to curve inward, turning in on themselves forming a circle. The group watched in silence.

The two ends came around on themselves and everyone thought they were about to meet, forming a thick blue ring but they did
n’
t. At the last moment one slid to the inside of the other narrowly missing it, and then they both started dropping downwards and they started to form a coil, spiralling downwards continuously looping round as they dropped further down the screen.