Radioactive waste from Chernobyl found an unusual application

Radioactive waste from Chernobyl can serve to preserve the anonymity of participants in the network.

This conclusion was made by the creators of the Zcash crypto currency Andrew Miller and Ryan Pierce, who have already explored their assumptions in practice

most types of crypto-currency are based on a public check of the chain of transaction blocks, however, when using Zcash, senders, recipients and transaction amounts remain hidden from the public.

Such data privacy is ensured by the zk-SNARK protocol, which is based on zero-disclosure proof, that is, a party with information can prove that it owns it without disclosing data to the other party.

To ensure the operation of the protocol, initial parameters should be specified through the generation of random numbers - they are called network participants, "toxic waste", since they must be destroyed after use for safety purposes. If someone can unravel the algorithm of their generation, there will be an opportunity to create false evidence.

In order to avoid this, the so-called cryptographic ceremony Powers of Tau was launched, during which each participant of the network generates random numbers, which makes it difficult for a potential attacker to attempt to break into Zcash.

As a random number generator Miller and Pierce used a small amount of radioactive material, namely a piece of graphite moderator from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Because of the decay of cesium-137 and strontium-90, it is a source of gamma and beta rays.

So with the help of the Geiger counter, buddies measured ionizing radiation, receiving electrical pulses, the duration of the intervals between which was random.

Their theory in action on the inability to intervene in the procedure of third parties, the developers demonstrated in a private plane at an altitude of 900 meters, where appropriate measurements were taken.