The Ultimate Dumpster

My name is Charlie Botkin - Dr. Charles Botkin, professor of nuclear physics and astrophysics at Cal Tech University in Pasadena, California. Most of my friends and colleagues call me Crazy Charlie because I seem to be a bit . . . unconventional. Actually, I’m an Indiana farm boy who graduated from Purdue University with degrees in math and physics at age 17. I earned a PhD from Cal Tech, and a string of awards and achievements as long as your arm. I was the top dog in the USA in particle physics. However, I still feel like the plain old Indiana farm boy I used to be. A long time ago, when I was growing up on my parent’s farm in Indiana, I adored and emulated my uncle Charlie whom everyone called "C." Thanks in part to my Uncle "C" I graduated at the top of my class from Purdue University at the tender age of seventeen. He was my idol and closest confidant until he disappeared quite mysteriously and was never found. Ah, but that’s another story.

Right now I am writing this down although I doubt any one will be around to read it, things going as they seem to be. It all started about ten years ago when I was attending an international symposium in New Delhi, India where I was giving a presentation on the math and physics involving the event horizons of black holes. There were two dozen or so top astrophysicists in the world in my audience in a small meeting room of the Oberoi Hotel in New Delhi. The presentation went smoothly with many heads nodding in agreement as I made my points.

en I finished my talk I made the usual offer to answer questions. Immediately a tall, very thin gentleman stood up and asked, "Please explain how you came to your conclusions about event horizons in general and their interaction with gravity waves in particular." I am particularly interested in the mathematical processes you used."

It was the first time anyone had posed that kind of question. "Sir, I don’t believe I know you. Would you please tell us who you are and what university you represent." I asked politely as most people acted as if they had never seen him before.

"I’m sorry," he remarked quite genuinely. "My name is Doctor Tilihand Chandra and I am an independent researcher associated with no university."

A murmur went through the group and I became certain no one had ever heard of him before this very moment. "Was he an interloper, an imposter, or maybe a subversive trying to infiltrate this group who all had very high security clearances? A spy, perhaps?" I wondered.


"How did you happen to get into this lecture? All of us are here representing our universities and have very high security clearances. Is there anyone in this group who can vouch for you?"
the entire assembly moved uncomfortably in their seats and none rose to speak for him.

"I assure you I am qualified to be in this meeting. May I use your VBX display to demonstrate?"

"An unusual request, but if the group agrees, you may do so."

Many conversations sprung up around the room and after numerous heads were shaken in the affirmative, I handed him the VBX input device.

"I am putting a formula on the screen which I’m sure at least some of you will recognize as the formula for calculating the limits of the relationship between the angle and the velocity an object of a given mass must have in order to pass a black hole without being drawn into the event horizon. This is not a commonly known calculation and is usually done by super computers because of the number of variables." A murmur of recognition went through the group along with nods of agreement. "Would you not agree that to be able to present this calculation, one would have to be very conversant with black holes and event horizons?"

"Yes!" Chorused cautiously from several in the group and it was obvious all agreed.

"Now I will place another mathematical method, not really a formula, on the screen."

Soon there were at least thirty lines of very complex math symbols on the screen. When he was finished he asked, "Does anyone know what that represents?"

The silence was deafening. I myself had never seen such calculations. Even some of the symbols were quite obscure to me. There was nothing but blank faces staring at the display completely without recognition. I was dumbfounded and blurted out, "I don’t really understand the math. Perhaps you can explain it to us?"

"That, gentlemen, is the way to calculate the three dimensional effect of the gravitational fields and waves generated by the close passage of two massive black holes. It would take far more time than we have to explain the math, but I could program your computers to make those calculations which I know none of you have ever even considered."

The group was shocked into silence and amazement. It was several moments before the usual buzz of conversation returned. To me, the calculations had just enough recognizable consistency to provide a sense of reality. So much so that I was reasonably sure they were accurate. I thought I knew a great deal about cosmology, astrophysics and black holes until that moment.
Before we could get over the shock and amazement he commented, "I believe one of you, Dr. Charles Botkin, published a paper on that very problem a few months ago saying that within a year there would be an attempt at a modeling solution. I believe you will find my method provides the correct solutions directly and without the vagaries of modeling. Now, does anyone think I am not qualified to be in this meeting?" No one spoke.

His comments were made quite matter-of-fact in an almost humble manner. It was obvious the man was not bragging. With that someone began to clap and soon the entire group was standing and paying homage to Dr. Chandra. It was almost unbelievable. He was quite charming and not at all pretentious. There were then several moments of personal contact, each member introduced himself and welcomed Dr. Chandra into the group.

He came directly over to me, shook my hand, and commented, "We will have to discuss this, you and I. You are one I know will be able to grasp what I am proposing." He turned to greet several other members and after about ten minutes, when things quieted down, Dr. Chandra spoke once more.

"I have a proposal to make to our governments. It is one I would like each of you to share and participate in. It relates to our field of knowledge and would solve one of humanity’s growing problems that has so far eluded solution. Tomorrow you will each receive a copy of my proposal. I would hope you would study it and consider supporting it before I contact any of your governments. I would like for you to join me in promoting this truly exciting new solution to an age-old problem, namely, the safe, environmentally friendly, permanent destruction and removal of all toxic, nuclear and even obnoxious waste material while providing a relatively cheap source of almost limitless energy. I ask each of you to attend a meeting to discuss this proposal at some time in the near future after you have read through and understood it."
After a few moments of stunned silence there was a bit of confusion as many tried to get close enough to ask him about his proposal.

Once more he spoke, seemingly directly at me. "Wait until you have studied my proposal before asking any questions, please. I will be contacting each of you soon. Now, I must leave and return to my research center to continue working on my project and proposal."

With that, he turned and strode out of the room before anyone knew he was leaving. We all had many questions and virtually no answers. Who was this man really and where did he come from? Was he for real? What was his background? Where had he studied and or taught? The man was obviously brilliant, but why had no one even known he existed before this day? I decided to find out who he was and what he was about by using the University facilities and the Internet. What I did find out was virtually nothing.
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The following is my written report of the sum total of the information I found from the meager records I discovered after an exhaustive search:

The T. H. Chandra Research Institute was almost a complete mystery to virtually every source of information. Built in a remote valley in the mountains of Nepal nearly twenty-six years ago it had virtually no contact with the rest of the world. There were no roads, connections to any power grid, or hard lines for communications. It was more than a hundred kilometers from the nearest villages. The only way in had to be by helicopter as there was no place for fixed wing aircraft to land, at least not during construction of the facility. All materials, construction equipment, even temporary housing for the construction crews were flown into the compound by helicopter as were all construction personnel. This was the sum total information I could glean from public records. Even the records of the twenty some contractors who built the compound were quite uninformative. In fact, most had gone out of business soon after completing their part of the project.

After construction was completed all records of the place seemed to simply cease. I could find no records of personnel hiring or of anyone who had ever worked there. In fact, it was almost as if the place ceased to exist once it was built more than two and a half decades earlier. It was quite obvious that they had their own power source although what kind and how large was a complete mystery. The diesel generators records showed they had purchased and installed were only sufficient as a bare backup, so they must have their own power plant, probably nuclear. Water was available from a substantial stream running through the valley. Winters were fairly severe in the area so they had to have a heat source, maybe it was a byproduct of the power plant. There was no obvious release of combustion products so there seemed to be no use of fossil fuels.

During construction they hauled in quite large amounts of structural steel, stainless, copper, lead and other non-ferrous metals. Many carbon fiber and other exotic materials in bulk form were brought in, a very unusual practice. These supplies were far more than that needed for construction according to the meager reports provided about their contract purchases. They had also procured quit a few advanced metal forming and machining tools, vacuum furnaces and composite forming devices so quite obviously they planned to build some fairly complex machinery.

There were hints and rumors of mysterious goings on in the valley, but no photos or other concrete evidence could be found. Surveillance satellite photos always showed the valley completely obscured by clouds. Even radar images showed no discernable details. Interestingly enough, other than the occasional foray out of the compound by helicopter, there was no record of any other arrivals or departures of any kind. The valley was completely obscured from all nearby radar installations maintained by the Nepalese, Indian and Pakistan governments because of its unique terrain deep in the mountains. For all intent and purposes they could be off world and no one would be the wiser.

Quite obviously the compound was and is completely self-sufficient. There were occasional helicopter flights to obtain some foods and a continuing series of electronic and computer components. There was no obvious pattern to these flights and some were quite distant to places in India, Pakistan and even a few to China. Somehow flight clearances were provided with arrangements being made via satellite phone. Prices were also negotiated by phone, but they seemed to possess an unlimited Swiss bank account.

Records showed Dr. Chandra had attended numerous important meetings almost anonymously over the years. His name was registered, but no one remembered seeing him at any of the functions. He certainly did not make himself or his research institute known by publishing or lecturing. In short - he and his institute are an almost complete mystery. No hint of what goes on there had come to my attention until his little speech at the symposium. A check of those in attendance showed they knew no more about him than I did. I eagerly awaited the arrival of his proposal. Perhaps that would throw some light on the mystery.

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It was three in the afternoon when a messenger service delivered a large, fat envelope to my room in the hotel. Maybe now the mystery would be explained. I opened the envelope and slid the contents onto the table. The cover page alone was a shock. At the bottom was the simple authorship statement, "by Doctor Tilihand E. Chandra of the T. H. Chandra Research Institute." it was the title that was the shocker, at least to me.

"Proposal to build and operate a gravitationally stabilized event horizon body for the purpose of waste disposal." It doesn’t take much imagination to realize he is talking about a captive black hole. It could only be a very tiny black hole which I could imagine, but captive? I could not imagine how such a system could even be conceived, let alone brought into reality. A quick scan of the proposal sent chills down my spine. The unbelievable power such a body would require just to maintain control was daunting. I certainly had no idea how to proceed, but then I hadn’t yet looked at anything but the title.

I read through the overview of the project in the first few pages and was immediately impressed, exhilarated and terrified - all at the same time. The proposal was certainly the biggest and most ambitious undertaking ever proposed on the planet. The size alone was daunting. The proposal called for an enclosed, roughly spherical space beneath the surface of the earth approximately two kilometers in diameter with the centerline very near to sea level. Within this space, several concentric spherical carbon fiber matrix shells would be erected, each with a sealable opening large enough for the entry of huge trucks and a train, tracks and road to be side-by-side. The concentric spheres would be stages in a four stage vacuum facility designed to remove all but a very few molecules from the central sphere. All offices and the control center would be in a sizeable structure outside the largest shell.

On the opposite side from the opening and office complex, several huge super-cooled conductors emerged and were connected to a monstrous transformer complex, the termination point for numerous VHT lines going off in many directions. The ten conductors were each approximately four meters in diameter and went through all shells and into the center one. My first thought was that the conductors were to supply almost inconceivable amounts of power into the center containment sphere to stabilize the black hole. But where would such massive amounts of power be coming from. Then it dawned on me as I remembered he said, "a cheap source of almost limitless energy." These conductors were to carry power out of the center sphere. The captive black hole would be the source of a phenomenal power generating system.

As I read through more of the proposal a strange feeling came over me. This was ostensibly a proposal for the world’s powers to fund the construction of a massive incinerator/power station, but it dealt almost exclusively with the transport of waste materials to the site and the distribution of energy from the site to the rest of the world. This distribution was in several forms. First there was the direct distribution of electrical power via HVT (High Voltage Transmission) lines. Second there was the distribution of liquid methanol manufactured by reacting hydrogen made by electrolysis and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Third was the direct application of high pressure hydrogen as rocket fuel to react with oxygen created by the same electrolysis. The rockets to be launched directly from the reactor complex.

Detailed plans for the waste disposal section of the installation started with a system of powerful grinders that reduced all solid materials to a fine powder and distilled all liquids, dividing them into hundreds of different categories while in the vapor stage. The dried residue was then fed into the solids disposal system. All materials were then sent through a series of physical and chemical processes that reclaimed needed elements and compounds that were safe to handle while pelletizing the remaining, useless or harmful materials and feeding them, along with similarly designated liquid and gaseous materials into the back hole containment system where they would generate prodigious amounts of energy in the process of being annihilated. The huge amounts of power needed to drive all these processes, supply the world’s need for electricity and maintain the force field to hold the black hole, would all be generated by this annihilation of matter.

Highly specific plans for the huge generating facility including row upon row of turbine generators was also detailed in the proposal. What was missing from the proposal was any mention of the construction of the confinement structure, or of the black hole isolation and control system itself. Where were these to come from? Who would construct them and how would that be possible? A two kilometer sphere containing three concentric spheres, each sphere pulling a greater vacuum then the one immediately outside it, is not a piece of cake to build. The lack of even the slightest specifics of the monstrous containment building seemed not only curious, but downright frightening when I though about it. I could hardly wait for the explanation we would all certainly ask for at the meeting Dr. Chandra had proposed. That meeting was scheduled for two weeks from today. I could hardly wait

TO BE CONTINUED

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