Secrets of the City

“Do you think this is a good idea?”

Yes.

So has there been any informal discussion of possible places for new sites?

I’m in that camp too. I think that nuclear energy technology has come a long way and it’s my understanding that they can now process the materials many times over, meaning less waste.

So has there been any informal discussion of possible places for new sites?
Only our back yards and Nevada.

yes…as long as you put it in Ely.

This isn’t even whether or not we should go forward with nuclear. It’s about whether or not we should simply allow ourselves to talk about it. We have this nasty habit of outlawing ourselves from talking about options for various things. This thread, for example, is against the law.

Isn’t Ely full of red neck terrorists that like to attack people on vacation and possibly nuclear power plants?

Yep.

It’s be tough to get by Nuclear Plant security armed with a 12 gauge and a canoe paddle.

It’s be tough? IT’S BE TOUGH?

Ever been spanked by a canoe paddle? I’m not so sure our security experts are up for such a scolding.

They should just hire Wackenhut. No problems with security there.

Paddlin a canoe? You’d better believe that’s a paddling.

I think that if you try and spank nuclear plant security with a paddle, you will soon find yourself seeking refuge in Shit Creek.

At least you’ll have your paddle.

Or will you?

The more efficient a nuclear fission power plant is, the more dangerous it is. However, nuclear fission is a lot more efficient than wind power, HEP, tidal etc. The only problem is the nuclear waste. It’s a matter of time before a nuclear fusion reactor that can sustain the chain reaction is built. This does not produce nuclear waste.

Oh yeah? Well, nuclear fusion didn’t work out too well for Doctor Octopus, did it?

Case closed.

phoenix, I was at a presentation about nuclear plants last week. None are planned in Minnesota any time soon (partially because, well, it’s illegal) and also because the utilities are set for power through about 2020 (according to their resource plans).

As for nuclear fusion, they’re no closer to that than they were 30 years ago, according to the guy who spoke (an Xcel nuclear expert).

Max: “At least you’ll have your paddle. Or will you?”

“Losin’ the paddle… that’s most certainly a- …oh.”

Case closed, eh? Spiderman villains always have accidents that give them weird powers. And do you really believe in Spiderman.

speaking of comic books and movies, how badass does the new Incredible Hulk look?

Didn’t you hear about how I fell into a vat of bubbling ethanol and emerged as …

…relax your itchy finger, max. That was just too easy.

This much badass.

I saw the hulk last weekend. Eh. Not too good. Minimal Plot. Tim Roth has the worst spray on Abs since Matt Damon in the Rainmaker.

Hot Shaved Ed Norton was a plus.

Anything Ed Norton does is badass.

Or this much.

Yes, nuclear waste has a storage problem.

But honestly, all of the fear and zomg sky is falling BS about nuclear is just silly. It’s a mature technology that is very safe. We already have 2 nuke plants locally that have not had any problems.

Fossil-fueled plants, that’s what we should be worrying about.

If we all switch to electric cars, where do you think the power is going to come from?

I’m no electricity expert, but I have a buddy who works in the transmission industry that says there’s some property to electricity that comes from coal-fired, nuclear, or hydro plants that wind generation does not provide, therefore something something about needing these “less green” power generation plants to provide for proper power transmission. Or something. This is paraphrased and like I said I’m not an expert, but I trust him.

“Do you think this is a good idea?”

Yes.

The problem with hydrogen fuel cells is that the hydrogen has obtained from water almost certainly by electricity. And the electricity probably came from fossil fuels.

Sorry, the hydrogen has (been) obtained from water almost certainly by electricity.

cdiggity, it’s because wind is intermittent and on average is only available 30 percent of the time. You need baseload (consistent, always on) power. You can get that from nuclear, coal or gas. That’s pretty much it.

Plus wind power is generated a long way from where it’s needed. That’s why a construction company in my hometown is getting rich.

Here is my take on nuclear waste. If we as a species are still around in 1000 years to be able to worry about the longer half-life products, then well done us.

Yes, I know that kind of thinking gets us into trouble eventually, but I think our shorter term issues with fueling are several orders of magnitude more serious.

Prepare yourselves for more Baby Penis Backs.

“they can now process the materials many times over, meaning less waste.“

But they don’t because they are not required to and it is more expensive than direct disposal. Also, they usually cannot reprocess multiple times because the material becomes too weak to economically concentrate again.

I wish we could find a reasonable method for either disposing of or reusing spent fuel, but we have not so far. Until then it would be reckless to build more reactors on the outside chance that someday we might have a way to dispose of it all.

Also, they usually cannot reprocess multiple times because the material becomes too weak to economically concentrate again

Yeah, I’ve heard that too. Though, my friends in science say that line of thought is an urban myth of science. I’ve been told that reusing spent fuel requires a slightly larger upfront investment, but the ROI is very large. With some spent fuel being able to be reused 6 – 8 times.

I’ll need time to dig up references. I really should stop listening to my friends. All they do is make me work.

As for me, I’d much rather we were all upgraded to solar, but still I’m not sure an outside chance of having hard to handle waste should stop us from bulding nuclear.

We could just shoot it into the sun. Or store it in Hoboken New Jersey.

I work at an engineering/environmental/architecture consulting firm (one of the biggies). We do everything from the light rail to wind power to large transmission lines. From what I’ve heard, you can reuse the spent fuel, no problem. It’s just that nukes in general are not good PR.

“From what I’ve heard, you can reuse the spent fuel, no problem.”

This fuel reuse was banned by federal law (because it produces weapons-grade plutonium as a byproduct) until it was quietly reinstated during the Clinton administration. In practice, however, no one is doing this in the US. It is being done in France and the UK.