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"What you see is an exact representation," Massarde assured him

"And you're about to give us a no-frills, fact-filled lecture on its operation"

"A lecture you can take with you to the grave," Massarde said reproachfully He picked up a long ivory pointer and aie field on the south side of the project covered with huge flat y sufficient," Massarde began "We produce our own electricity with this photovoltaic grid system of flat-plate solar cell modules made from polycrystalline silicon that covers 4 square kilometers Are yon: familiar with photovoltaics?"

"I know that it's rapidly becoy source," answered Pitt "As I understand it, photovoltaics is a solar technology that converts the sun's power into direct current electrical energy"

"Quite right," said Massarde "When sunlight, or what scientists refer to as solar photon energy, strikes the surface of these cells after its 115-million-kilometer journey froh to operate a project three times this size should ish to expand" He paused and aimed the pointer at a structure near the array of enerators powered by the energy converted froy is stored for nighttime use or for days when the sun does not shine, which is a rarity in this part of the Sahara"

"Efficient," said Pitt "An efficient power system But your array of solar concentrators, they do not operate with the saree of effectiveness?"

Massarde looked thoughtfully at Pitt He wondered why thisthe pointer toward a field next to the solar cells that held the array of parabolic trough collectors Pitt had observed the day before

"They do," he replied icily "My solar thery for the destruction of hazardous wastes is the ram of any industrial nation This field of superconcentrators delivers solar concentrations higher than the norht, or photon energy, is then focused into the first of two quartz reactors" Massarde paused to touch the pointer against a"The first breaks the toxic waste down into harrees Celsius The second reactor, at terees Celsius, incinerates any re infinitesimal residue The destruction of every known manmade toxic chemical is total and complete"

Pitt looked at Massarde with respect h and final But if your detoxification operation is a state-of-the-art wonder of utility, why are you hiding round?"

"Very few people are aware of the staggering nulobe There are over seven million known man-made chemical compounds And each week chemists create ten thousand new ones At current rates, over two billion tons of waste are accu around the world every year Three hundred million alone in the United States Twice that in Europe and Russia More than double that amount when you throw in South America, Africa, Japan, and China Soally dued in water supplies There is no place for it to go Here in the Sahara, far from the crowded cities and farmlands, I have provided a safe place for international industries to send their toxic waste At the moment Fort Foureau can destroy over four hundred million tons of hazardous waste a year But I cannot destroy it all, not until my solar thermal detoxification projects in the Gobi Desert and Australia are completed to handle waste from China and nations of the Far East For your interest, I also have a facility only teeks away from start-up in the United States"

"Very co what you can't destroy and charging for it"

Massarde nodded "Cost efficiency, Mr Pitt It's cheaper to hide toxic waste than destroy it"

"And you follow the saly

"Waste is waste As far as humans are concerned, the only basic difference between nuclear and toxic is that one kills with radioactivity and the other with poison"

"Duet it, and to hell with the consequences"