Nuclear Power Plants: Are Ye for it?

[Moksha]

Read a very interesting article on nuclear power plants today in the City Weekly. Got me thinking about the benefits of electricity produced from nuclear fuel rather than fossil fuel. However, there are some problems with what to do with the nuclear waste materials.

Fascinating idea though. What are your thoughts about nuclear power plants?

Nuclear Utah

[Just_A_Guy]

I'd like to see a clear-cut solution on what to do with the waste; if that can be worked out, I'm for it.

But the article presents nuclear industry insiders as stating that no one in the US has ever been hurt by nuclear energy, and then presents stats on people who have been hurt from radiation--without pointing out that those people were hurt by test blasting of nuclear weapons, not nuclear energy. That's quite a bait-and-switch, if you ask me.

[dazed-and-confused]

does three mile island strike a bell?

[john doe]

does three mile island strike a bell?

Remind those of us who aren't familiar with the numbers: how many people died in the Three Mile Island incident, and how much radiation was released to the atmosphere?

[john doe]

Salt Lake City Weekly is hardly even-handed in its articles. I wouldn't trust much of what they say unless they back it up with reliable facts and figures which they rarely, if ever, do.

[john doe]

Seems to me that even the French have had good success with nuclear power.

[pam]

How often are there accidents or incidents with nuclear power plants? I grew up less than 100 miles from one and I don't ever remember it having even one incident.

[prisonchaplain]

When gas gets back up to $5 we'll see a ground swell of support. Right now we can afford to be cautious.

[BenRaines]

There was not one bit of radiation that escaped during the emergency at Three Mile Island. No one died.

In Europe they incinerate the nuclear waste that leaves a harmless byproduct and very little remains that needs to be stored.

In the US we have not built a nuclear power plant in 30 years. We are way behind the rest of the world in the use of safe nuclear power.

Ben Raines

[Moksha]

How often are there accidents or incidents with nuclear power plants? I grew up less than 100 miles from one and I don't ever remember it having even one incident.

I think they had some sort of incident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

[BenRaines]

I would not consider Soviet monitored nuclear power as safe. They have greater problems with toxic waste from petroleum, mining, etc.

Ben Raines

[Moksha]

Salt Lake City Weekly is hardly even-handed in its articles. I wouldn't trust much of what they say unless they back it up with reliable facts and figures which they rarely, if ever, do.

Their reporters have won a number of journalism awards for investigative reporting.

[MarginOfError]

I think they had some sort of incident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

They were also running experiments at Chornobyl trying to maximize energy output. They were doing things there that no US power plant would have gotten away with. In essence, they were deliberately overheating the rods, trying to see how far they could push the envelope without causing an explosion. I guess they found out.

The US history of nuclear power ended because no one could afford to make a venture into the business and still make a profit. But Americans were running nuclear power plants in a very different way than the Europeans, or even Canada. In those countries, nuclear power plants all have the same design with interchangeable parts. This allows for mass production of parts. So if something goes wrong with a part and the plant doesn't have one readily available, they don't have to wait for one to be manufactured...they just take one from another plant and order one to replace it.

In the US, since every plant had a custom design, all parts had to be custom made and special ordered. This gets really expensive. To avoid unnecessary expense, plants would wait until something started to wear out before ordering a new part, and then continue to run on a failing part until the new one arrived. Not a great idea.

You can tour the power plant in Quebec, Canada. You can even go down near the reactor and watch them change the rods. The only thing between you and the insanely hot rods is a glass wall and a pool of water. The water prevents the transmission of the radiation. It's completely safe, and you're standing 30 feet from the rods. At this plant, they have a couple of sites far away from populated areas where they store the spent fuel rods in under ground bunkers made of concrete. Yup, that's right...concrete blocks the passage of the radiation.

It really isn't hard to make nuclear energy affordable and safe. You just have to convince the public and then regulate the design of the plants (probably a major sticking point for the no-government involvement folks, but essential to make the plan affordable). The bigger problem is how do you talk Iran out of building nuclear power plants with your right hand while building your own with your left?

[sixpacktr]

I'm all for it. We are neglecting a great source of energy. I know, there is the problem of getting rid of the waste. But if we would let the free enterprise system work on it for a PROFIT (gasp!) because there is a demand for it, I have no doubt a solution could be worked out.

Even the Japanese, the only nation to be at the wrong end of a nuclear bomb, have nuclear power plants all over the place.

Chernobyl is not a good argument against nuclear power. For one, WE have no control over what other gov'ts or nations do. For another, the USSR was notoriously bad at doing anything except keeping their people down, with very lax regulations and a criminal lack of concern for what it did to the people or environment (as an aside, so is China, but that is a politically incorrect thing to say these days, as they have been 'reformed' apparently, and besides, they hold a ton of our debt...).

[Guest Alana]

I'm all for it. When you drive into my town there is a sign that reads "NUCLEAR FREE ZONE", booo!

[Tarnished]

I think Nuclear power can be a good thing if handled correctly. What I found most interesting about the article though is that they are not going to be using Yucca Mountain for nuclear waste storage. That fact alone makes me happy that I am no longer living in Salt Lake City. If Utah can handle a Nuclear power plant better than they have handled the disposal of nuclear waste then I think it could really be a good thing in regard to jobs and such, otherwise I could see it as a big problem.

[john doe]

The Chernobyl plant design was completely different from the ones being used today all over the world. It was a disaster waiting to happen.

[john doe]

Their reporters have won a number of journalism awards for investigative reporting.

I'll bet the Enquirer and Star magazines can show you their awards too, it still doesn't make them reliable sources of information.

[sixpacktr]

Hijacking thread...

We do have to remember, however, John, that the Enquirer DID break the John 'Baby Channeler' Edwards story of his catting around behind his wife's back and fathering a child, when none of the MSM would touch the story.

Un-hijacking thread...

[john doe]

Hijacking thread...

We do have to remember, however, John, that the Enquirer DID break the John 'Baby Channeler' Edwards story of his catting around behind his wife's back and fathering a child, when none of the MSM would touch the story.

Un-hijacking thread...

True, but when you consider you had to sift through all the stories about space-alien babies to find the one that was true, it hardly makes it worth it.

[sixpacktr]

My particular favorite (not necessarily Enquirer, but...) is 'Batboy'. That one always makes me laugh...

[Guest]

I used to work at a Nuclear Power Plant in Ohio. I'm very much all for it.

[Captain_Curmudgeon]

Random thoughts (that's the best I can do lately).

• There was a truly gruesome incident in Idaho in the past. When I studied it, it made me about lose my lunch. The fact that there had even been an incident was classified then and still may be now. Believe me: you don't want to know the details.
• Once I grasped the simple fact that the supply of oil is not infinite and that we'd probably reached the peak, I immediately tried to find out how to invest in nuclear power. Not that simple -- if you have some ideas, please post them here. Looks even better when you see how slowly the research into alternatives or even the recognition that we're going to need them is.
• The plan for a nuclear plant in southern Utah is a pipe dream fueled, as usual, by some get-rich scheme of some member of the Utah Legislature. Cooling water.
• I wouldn't invest in fusion schemes. They've been "promising" since I was in my 20s (look at my avatar photo).
• If fusion ever does work, it's going be incredible (check out Ossian's Ride by Fred Hoyle).
• Not in my back yard. Elsewhere, how do I buy some?

[john doe]

Having lived somewhat near the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, I have heard a few stories. If they are classified they are not very good at keeping secrets since the basic details were printed in the newspapers. Yes, there have been incidents and accidents there that have resulted in deaths. Not a lot, but a few. It should be noted however, that the reactors involved were experimental breeder reactors, not the type of reactors currently used in producing electrical power. As far as I know, there have not been any radiation releases in any of those incidents, and the accidents were caused by human errors of some type or other.

[Hemidakota]

I believe it is time for Fusion Power vice Nuclear.