[1/2] Gross and massive ignorance on nuclear power
I never considered that water to be so much involved in the equation ! :o Interesting
I did not know the water requirement for Nukes...
That's because 99.9% of Americans don't know the first thing about nuclear power generation (let alone weapons). What people don't know or understand is what they fear. It is technically impossible for the US to have a Chernobyl, and even far less of an incident for French or Japanese.
Ironically it's the "more environmentally friendly" nuclear power plants that have issues. They are the ones with the "cooling towers" that cool water before turning it. They only return 50% as 50% becomes steam. Other plants just return the hot water to the source, which can be an environmental disaster for cold blooded *******, as well as growth in the water.
Furthermore, I don't think people realize
this is not just a consideration for nuclear power.
All steam-turbine designs require cooling. You have a thermal reaction that turns water into a steam which turns a turbine, and that entire system is also cooled (regulated temperature).
The added complication with nuclear power is that they are very capable of a massive amount of heat generation in such a small footprint compared to fossil fuel. So while they generate a lot of power, they also use a lot of water -- far more than fossil fuel plants. So their consumption of water per unit is much higher. So this affects nuclear power plants first and foremost.
But it can affect other plants if the drought is severe enough.
Damn...frightening article.
What's "frightening" about it? No danger at all. It's just that other sources may need to be tapped for those plants with insufficient water supplies.
No wonder John Edwards was the only Dem to say "No new Nuke power" in one of the recent debates...
And that means he's an ignorant, technical fool that
goes against all G8 nation energy plans as well as China, India and others. If the US wants to continue to look like the
incompetent, technical society it is, then by all means, vote Edwards.
The US has already fucked up for over 30 years, with France and Japan just rolling their eyes. Even the UK has finally said "fuck off" to its ignorant environmental groups who are hurting their nation. Unlike the US, the UK doesn't even have coal reserves to use if it wanted to.
Are their greater ****** at work against America!!!
Nope, gross American ignorance is its own problem.
The problem with Nuke power is storage of waste materials.
Bullshit. More ignorance at work.
First off, over 99% of existing US nuclear waste was from nuclear weapons. And the **** from that is even nastier. I'll take the stuff from nuclear power generation dumped in my back yard over some of the by-products of nuclear weapons development anywhere near my subdivision. The former is at least minimally reactive, and is only a danger to the water supply. Ironically, a lot of former weapons by-products
could be used for nuclear power, but President Carter eliminated that option long ago (see below).
Secondly, there is enough storage at Yucca Mountain to handle thousands of years of by-products from nuclear power generation. The waste sits at facilities because Nevada "took the money and ran" and Senators like Harry Reid pull the "State's Rights" bullshit. Yucca Mountain is designed to last 10,000+ years (possibly eternity), and that's plenty of time to "move the stuff again" if anything is found wrong with Yucca. Instead, most sit in temporary containers near the facilities, and this is a joke.
Third, 2nd and 3rd generation nuclear power plants (we're still using 1st generation designs, yeah, from the '50s -- see below) are a crapload more efficient. Rods at today's plants that were "used" in 3-5 years can be reused for another 20-30 years in 3rd generation plants. That means all the crap that we've generated over 40 years that is "useless" is now good for another 400-500 years with 3rd generation plants.
Our politicians like to thump on the tables that "France is 80% Nuke Powered" but they fail to mention what France does with her nuke waste matter...which is...contract with Russia or other countries to house it.
Our politicians are right, you are wrong.
First off, I won't address the former USSR, because their entire approach was wrong. They have graphite reactor designs still in use, and processes that are a joke. There are more Chernobyls just waiting to happen over there.
Secondly, France has
nearly all 2nd generation reactors, and the new 3rd generation that France and Japan are bringing on-line (with 8 other countries, including the US, planning to build) can reuse those rods. Uranium is a finite resource, so we
must build these plants.
France
laughs at us (and I don't blame them) for sticking with 1st generation, 10x "more dangerous" plant designs. The co-founder of Greenpeace has to continually point out that if you prevent progress, all you will get is older, worse and far more dirty and environmentally unfriendly designs. California is a staple of this, and is a repeat theme in the Electrical Engineering trade mags and professional organizations. But, as a repeat theme from me on this board, it's the general ignorance of the people and the politicians that cater to them that keep anyone with a remote, scientific and engineering understanding from solving that problem.
Until something realistic AND GREEN can be done with the Nuke waste...we're just creating a different environment dilemma by creating energy programs based on Nuke power.
Until something non-ignorant and ALREADY GREEN can be done, we're just preventing 40 years of progress from coming to the US. People still want power. They want to bitch even more when they don't get it, the power company says they can't have it or can't use certain things, etc... People actually do
not want to converse.
Great book with that ultimate theme by
Isaac Asimov called
The Gods Themselves. Highly recommend it.
Well then that is one I would have to part company with John on.What we need is more nuke plants and less people ******** the water lol.Nukes are the only real way we could really see large amounts of fossil fueled energy plants that are major sources of greenhouse gases replaced.
Glad to see you totally agree.
Nuclear power, and wind power, very much so. Nuclear power is the easiest way to generate a lot of heat for gas-turbines. Wind is a better, more direct and very efficient route (let alone safer than any gas-turbine plant of any design), so we must continue to make significant investments there.
All other options currently have environmental impacts that are just too detrimental in other ways, especially hydroelectric, although that doesn't stop China. But China doesn't have the eco-system protections (let alone regulation) we do.
Well then that is one I would have to part company with John on.What we need is more nuke plants and less people ******** the water lol.Nukes are the only real way we could really see large amounts of fossil fueled energy plants that are major sources of greenhouse gases replaced.
I saw a 60 minutes that showed how the French take their spent nuclear rods and put them in a pool for 5 years to cool then reprocess them for use again.This is eliminating there being any waste to dispose of for them and also cuts back on the amount of new uranium they need for their plants.
All true except one thing. It
reduces the wast, it does
not eliminate it. But yeah, they are 40 years ahead of us.
France = 50 years, US = 10 years -- thanx Greenpeace and others!
President Carter also had a lot of legislation ****** on how nuclear fuel can and cannot be used. Former by-products from nuclear weapons cannot be used for fuel, and there is quite an "endless supply" that could. It's one of the great atrocities in the US, one that several people have been trying to reverse. But every time a legislator tries to do so, he's massacred by the environmental lobby. I.e., their constituents -- who are largely ignorant -- are mis-informed and that representative is easily not elected. Carter also ****** all breeder reactor R&D while he was at it, since it fell into the "dual-role" category.
Before the Energy Act of 2005, it was political suicide to even suggest overturning many of these laws, but that's now changing. Oh the irony! We could reduce so much waste in "temporary storage holds" if we would only do things like that. Some 30+ years of chronic reversals in technology, out of 100% pure ignorant and political grandstanding.
continued ...
We need good news to come from someplace soon...to raise our spirits! Are their greater ****** at work against America!!!
