A couple weeks ago, I posted on a friends blog that I supported nuclear power. I caught a lot of flak on that because most people of my political persuasion and anti-nuclear. I realized, however, that my real mistake was not bringing that conversation here.
Here's my point. Nuclear power is relatively inexpensive and clean. We can't ignore the legitimate problems: both dealing with significant hazards to the environment.
- Used fuel must be stored somewhere out-of-the-way for millions of years. I think an isolated location (such as Yucca Mountain) would suffice.
- A significant accident at a nuclear power plant would be devastating. See Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.
Compare the costs, then, to the benefits. I believe that nuclear power provides a great deal of power. That's what we get. More electrical power from nuclear allows us to us to: reduce coal-burning plants; we can use more plug-in electric vehicles, thereby reducing gas guzzlers; we can heat our homes with electicity instead of wildly fluctuating gas or oil; we can generate far more power than wind or solar devices.
I love wind and solar. But they should be part of a comprehensive solution along with nuclear.
I bring this up to provoke discussion. Unlike spent fuel rods, the half-life of my opinion is fairly quick. Talk me out of it before I my lose my Liberal Club CardTM.
6 comments:
Good topic.
Chernobyl was a "Carbon cooled Breeder Reactor". Carbon Cooled Breeder Reactors are used in the manufacture of weapons grade Plutonium. Carbon is used as a heat transfer medium because breeder reactors operate at very much higher temperatures. A water cooled breeder reactor would require literally millions of gallons of water per minute to provide adequate heat transfer for cooling. The problem with carbon is that in addition to it's high heat capacity, it is very flammable. Chernobyl was more a fire (in it's initial disaster phase) than a meltdown. Chernobyl also had no Containment Structure to keep in radiation, in the event of a mishap.
The USA only has one breeder reactor (in I believe Tennessee), which produces all of our weapons grade plutonium. The former Soviet Union built only breeder reactors for a long period of time.
Three mile Island (Water cooled plant) released no measurable radiation into the surrounding area. The cause of the fire was a worker using a candle to check for air leaks, who ignited the containment insulation. (Insert Homer Simpson "DOH!" here.)
Three Mile Island actually demonstrated the safety of Nuclear Power. There was a fire, the core was flooded, and the plant shut down. The concrete containment structure contained any radiation. No problem.
We have to get over the China Syndrome we have in this country. Nuclear Power is safe, clean and reliable. We should begin building plants again.
I have worked at coal fired power plants. They really are filthy. We really have to move beyond that technology.
You're not helping my liberal street cred here, John!
Don't tell me, you're the one who came down on the side of Dick Cheney.
I confess to being another unrepentant liberal that thinks we need to give nuclear power another look.
However, I think there are two obstacles in addition to the "spent fuel" problem that work against nuclear power:construction costs and legal litigation.
The last I heard each plant would costs several billions ... who pays? My guess is that environmental lawsuits and community protests would delay construction for years and years. Just think of the reaction if such a plant were to be built here!
So, I wonder in the end if the time and money wouldn't be better spent pioneering newer "cleaner" technologies?
Hi Nick,
When the Energy Industry was deregulated, Utilities were required to spin off their Power Generation Assets. This is where the "Stranded Cost" issue came from when the Utilities were fighting the Attorney General. Municipals and Cooperatives are exempt, and can own their own Power Plants. Due to the great start up costs, most just buy their energy off the Grid. This is how Hull and Princeton are able to own Wind Turbines.
Any Power Plant costs would be born by the IPP (Indpendant Power Producers) who are developing the plants. If the cost of a new Nuke Plant makes sense, someone like Duke Energy, ANP, Intergen, USGen, etc pay the development costs and then compete for long term contracts to get on the grid. Nukes go long term contractually due to the incredible start up costs. These are known as baseline producers. Coal is also a baseline producer. Gas, oil, and other simple cycle power plants bid short term as "peak producers". They have higher per MW unit costs, but go on line less often than baseline plants.
When you hear someone refer to the "Grid", this is the collection of High Voltage lines. The lines in front of your house are the "Distribution Network". SELCO runs the Distribution Network, National Grid owns the High Voltage.
In our part of the world ISO New England runs the grid, in terms of purchasing short, long and peak power contracts. They also have the power to insitute brown outs, transmit power to and from other regions, and they coordinate power outages for construction on the grid. ISO New England is a non-profit independant entity whose mission is to purchase the cheapest most reliable power on the market. ISO New England is a very competant well run entity. Google their web site. Believe it or not, it's pretty interesting, or maybe I'm just kind of a geek.
OK John its official you are the resident science geek! I thought I was bad. In any event, this is an excellent discussion and I am learning a lot.
Who says blogs are only for people with an axe to grind. Thanks John, Nick, and Mark for giving me more to think about just when I thought my brain couldn't handle one more thing. Chris
Post a Comment
Anonymous comments are allowed, but the publisher retains the right to screen them first.
Comments posted from a registered account are preferred but not required. Registration is free. Accounts are easy to set up and easy to use. Please help ShrewsBuried by participating in this new policy. Any comments, complaints, or compliments should be directed to Publisher@ShrewsBuried.com.
Register for a free commenting account here.