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Expanding USA Nuclear Power

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raymcginnis:
Now that our USA President has announced that he would like to see us go with new nuclear power plants, I wanted to get the input from peers.

I have not seen any input about this from my peers yet.

 In the 1990s this was explored and many companies came up with innovative designs.  I read about all of this, in the journals, and all companies went with the same thing, where a new nuclear power plant would be built in a factory, just like a rocket engine.  It would be just like a battery.  The entire plant would be assembled in say, Pennsylvania and delivered to Utah and just put in place like a battery. 

Now I know that many who would read this will say why not put more energy into solar energy and other alternative energy sources?  I still say that it is way expensive, in spite of the fact that those technologies are all cheaper than they used to be!  Alternative energy will come alive, in the future, I think, but they cannot run even one automobile factory in Detroit yet, much less a whole city the size of Detroit (much less NYC)!

We are so rich though in people who know about this and we need a bridge.  It is time that we trust ourselves.  I say give the companies time to develop what they have gained in this new knowledge, but we need a bridge to keep us going.  We already know how to decommission to the nth degree. 

Let us give all the fast reactors a chance.   

Americans, no matter what party they join, believe in freedom. 

I have seen the basic plant designs and I believe in them, no matter which one becomes a fact of life.

I know that this will cause controversy, but I just had to post my ideas.  I have learn so much from what my peers post on this site!

Let us all talk about this!  What do you think?

Camella Black:
I personally am in support of more nuclear plants being built. Our government has sat back and waited and debated our energy needs, the various types of energy sources and what they will or won't do to the point that most people could care less.

Consumers keep on consuming regardless of the price of gas, oil or electricity although they keep complaining. How ironic that the largest generation ever, who were going to make all these wonderful changes (remember the 1960's and 70's) are some of the worst offenders.

When I first went to TN a couple of years ago I was amazed at the air quality and I couldn't understand why all the pines were dying, then I read that the enviornment was changing there due to all the air pollution and that soon the climate was going to be close to that of Alabama and that the trees couldn't adapt, what a shame. Do you know that 1 tree provides enough oxygen for a family of 4? I wonder how many trees are dying there?

Then I went to PA and met all the wonderful people in Saxton, a town virtually dying because the SNEC site was closing and they had no jobs. While there I saw a beautiful stream running through the mountains and was amazed at its crystal clean, almost blue color and then I was told it was that way because of arsnic posioning from the old coal mines ...

Every year someone in our area dies in a house fire from using a faulty heater because they couldn't afford regular heat ...

There are places like this all over our country, and there are people who are dying of lung disease and children who cannot breathe because of the air quality and our utility bills continue to climb.

And the consumers keep on consuming ...

Rad Sponge:
Here's a great research report on the future prospects of nuclear power. It was conducted by MIT School of Nuclear Engineering:

http://web.mit.edu/nuclearpower/

With 250 years of projected global coal reserves I do not see BIG COAL going away anytime soon, especially with the advent of "Clean Coal Technology".

raymcginnis:
Cool post Rad Sponge!  Now I want to read the whole MIT paper!  Is that posted also?  The intro was awesome!

thenuttyneutron:
I don’t think "clean coal" really exists.  The cleanest and most cost effective way of making electricity is nuclear power.  I consider myself to be a rational environmentalist and studied 6 years to earn my degree in nuke engineering and believe more than ever this is the energy source of the future.  We don't have to sacrifice our live style in order to be more responsible with the planet.  I know we can have our cake and eat it too.

The generation 4 reactors are not too far off and this will solve many problems and avert certain accidents that are possible with the gen. 2 reactors.  It is impossible for these reactors to melt down.  The ceramic and carbon construction of the fuel blocks have melting points well above the maximum temperature that could be attained in the worst case scenario, like a LOCA.  It is also very hard for the fuel blocks to be used in a bad way.  The fuel is encased in a tough ceramic shell and the fuel beads are very small. 

I want the electrical industry to move towards using nukes as the base load and using things like natural gas for peak shaving.  Leave the coal in the ground.  Renewable sounds nice but things like solar power are expensive, filthy, and not good enough for large-scale use.  I think solar is one of the dirtiest ways to make electricity!  Look at all the tons of toxic material that is produced.  Nasty chemicals containing gallium, arsenic and other deadly chemicals are produced.  Nuclear waste at least becomes safer with age, after 10 years the stuff has lost most of its radioactivity.

I am just starting my career; I want to end it with the new age nuclear making 90% of the electricity in the cleanest and safest way possible.  I will leave the fossil-fueled auto problem and the coming oil production peak to other people:)

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