tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10753536.post371824916569826524..comments2024-02-15T05:22:23.113-05:00Comments on JimBobby Sez: Olaf's Great Debate: Nuclear Power, Yes or No?JimBobbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04603665575714484326noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10753536.post-56802265135969749162007-08-15T08:17:00.000-04:002007-08-15T08:17:00.000-04:00"Frank said: However, it can be assumed from both ..."Frank said: However, it can be assumed from both evidence and logical deduction that those single two incidents are the two blotches on an otherwise flawless safety record,"<BR/><BR/>Reminds me of "Other than that how did you like the play, Mrs. Lincoln?" And another thing, I don't believe AECL when they say that there won't be another Darlington in terms of delays and cost overruns.Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00123028805112944367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10753536.post-69095551824039396302007-08-12T17:10:00.000-04:002007-08-12T17:10:00.000-04:00Janfrom, you're right the CANDU waste won't explod...Janfrom, you're right the CANDU waste won't explode on its own, but when exploded with chemical explosives, it is what Homeland Insecurity calls a "Dirty bomb" or a bomb with nuclear toxic payload that is spread widely.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10753536.post-29176256902764074862007-08-11T03:36:00.000-04:002007-08-11T03:36:00.000-04:00I think we believe and rely too much on nuclear po...I think we believe and rely too much on nuclear power to be our main power source in future. We should understand and be aware that renewable power sources can be the alternative to nuclear power despite what the pro nuclear lobby says. We are at the crossroads of that happening now.<BR/>We also have to cite the very obvious that we will never have a safe nuclear industry because we live in a world entrenched in crazy ideologies. We are in dire need to have safe cheap power sources and reduce global warming as well and only renewables will in the end do that.<BR/>There has been a breakthrough in renewable energy base power production! I refer to solar thermal power using a cheap flat mirror system and storage by the disassociation of ammonia in an endothermic reactor then stored at ambient temperature and used at any later time even during wintertime the sun's energy is not lost being chemically locked up. Then reapplied to an exothermic reactor heat is produced at about 500 degrees to provide steam for power generation. This closed loop system enables 24/7 base power production for industry and it also is able to provide medium or peak power on demand. Not only that the storage system is easy to do and cheap and is based on mature technology and enables the sun’s energy to be stored any length of time without loss so that the energy can be extracted in the wintertime if necessary or any time in the future! No other storage system can do this and it is a real breakthrough. A gigawatt plant is right now being built in America financed by venture capitalist Vinod Khosla who says that solar thermal power is poised for explosive growth because of it’s low costs together with Australian scientist Dr David Mills. In Europe a TRANS-CSP report commissioned by the German government calculates that solar thermal power is likely to become one of the cheapest sources of power including the cost of transmission. Not producing any carbon and it does not have safety issues it’s easy to see why. This is the power that needs to be, and can be sent to third world counties and the rest of Europe via High Voltage Direct Current Transmission lines from solar thermal plants in North African deserts or the Middle East with only 3% loss in transmission. In fact the whole world could use this as a major power source as there are many deserts around. The potential for it to power the world cleanly and safely and reduce greenhouse gasses at the same time is a real bonus. And it is being done now. Lets get on with it and continue! A general understanding and awareness of solar thermal power (CSP) can be seen on http://www.trec-uk.org.uk/index.htm and (http://www.trecers.net/index.html and http://www.trec.net.au/ and understanding of the storage system in schematic form can be seen at<BR/>http://engnet.anu.edu.au/DEresearch/solarthermal/high_temp/thermochem/index.phpenvirohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14603881664973669363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10753536.post-9278577534726456912007-08-10T09:10:00.000-04:002007-08-10T09:10:00.000-04:00Interesting post, JB. I'm not an expert on electr...Interesting post, JB. I'm not an expert on electricity generation, but you have given me some things to think about.Jim (Progressive Right)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02023879211848227007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10753536.post-52399416408140534492007-08-10T08:38:00.000-04:002007-08-10T08:38:00.000-04:00Thanks fer yer comments, folks.Dr. Stimplove, the ...Thanks fer yer comments, folks.<BR/><BR/>Dr. Stimplove, the author of that "flawless" assertion now claims that what he was <B>trying</B> to say was that Chernobyl and 3MI were the <B>worst</B> accidents. Thing is... that's not anything like what he said. <BR/><BR/>Frank also took me to task for citing Wikipedia - not very authoritative, sez he. His own source, which led him to falsely claim the nuke industry has a flawless safety record (other than Chernobyl and 3MI) was "<I>it can be assumed from both evidence and logical deduction.</I>" Yeah, assumption and logical deduction are much more authoritative than Wikipedia.<BR/><BR/>Jan, OPG is now training its own force of armed guards to stand guard over its nuclear waste. I referenced a media piece on that. If there was no need for this, why on earth would our police be wasting their time and why would OPG be investing into training an armed security force? Radioactive waste is generated at Bruce and at every other Ontario reactor. That waste is not highly enriched uranium, as would be needed to make a nuclear bomb. It is, however, radioactive and highly toxic and could serve as the "dirt" for a dirty bomb. Also, Jan, the risks are not limited to what happens at the nuclear generating plant. The Cameco accident shows us the life cycle risks extend to mines, transportation and enrichment facilities. <BR/><BR/>Ron, latest estimates say that more than 9000 have died or will die as a result of the Chernobyl accident. The immediate deaths of a few workers at the time oof teh accident in no way reflects the real costs of the Chernobyl accident. BTW, the immediate remediation/containment that was performed on Chernobyl is starting to fail. The millions of tons of concrete that wer poured over the failed reactor are cracking. Many more millions of tons of concrete are going to be needed to fix the problem. How long can Ukraine afford to keep fixing this?<BR/><BR/>Conservative estimates put the death toll at 4000 but that is disputed:<BR/><BR/>"The new estimates have been collated by researchers commissioned by European parliamentary groups, Greenpeace International and medical foundations in Britain, Germany, Ukraine, Scandinavia and elsewhere. They take into account more than 50 published scientific studies.<BR/><BR/>"At least 500,000 people - perhaps more - have already died out of the 2 million people who were officially classed as victims of Chernobyl in Ukraine," said Nikolai Omelyanets, deputy head of the National Commission for Radiation Protection in Ukraine. "[Studies show] that 34,499 people who took part in the clean-up of Chernobyl have died in the years since the catastrophe. The deaths of these people from cancers was nearly three times as high as in the rest of the population.<BR/><BR/>"<BR/>We have found that infant mortality increased 20% to 30% because of chronic exposure to radiation after the accident. All this information has been ignored by the IAEA and WHO. We sent it to them in March last year and again in June. They've not said why they haven't accepted it."<BR/><BR/>Evgenia Stepanova, of the Ukrainian government's Scientific Centre for Radiation Medicine, said: "We're overwhelmed by thyroid cancers, leukaemias and genetic mutations that are not recorded in the WHO data and which were practically unknown 20 years ago."<BR/>"<BR/><BR/>(<A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/ukraine/story/0,,1739339,00.html" REL="nofollow">Source</A>)<BR/><BR/>JBJimBobbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04603665575714484326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10753536.post-67719378382477061042007-08-10T01:53:00.000-04:002007-08-10T01:53:00.000-04:00When it comes to deaths per kilowatt hour produced...When it comes to deaths per kilowatt hour produced (ebven ioncluding Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, where no one died) nuclear power is still easily the safest.<BR/><BR/>And storage is a problem, yeah, but so is pitchblend.Ronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12511808062334334190noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10753536.post-27126400460948884022007-08-09T21:58:00.000-04:002007-08-09T21:58:00.000-04:00"Nuclear waste must be guarded 24/7 by armed guard..."Nuclear waste must be guarded 24/7 by armed guards. Why? So terrorists or other criminals don't steal it to use as the dirt in a dirty bomb... or worse. Ontario Power Generation is training its own security force to takeover this responsibility from police."<BR/>JB, our Candue reactors don't use the type of uranium that makes bombs, as the process is quite different than other country reactors.<BR/>I think we need a mixed system of energy, and we do need a base load. So far solar and wind are not reliable. I would like to see energy use reduced and see build passive buildings as the future, but taking down energy inefficient buildings also creates emissions, so that is not the way to go. <BR/>Just some of my thoughts.susansmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02573558646874765432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10753536.post-78379399628411697892007-08-09T18:05:00.000-04:002007-08-09T18:05:00.000-04:00Nice job, JB. That "otherwise flawless record" ass...Nice job, JB. That "otherwise flawless record" assertion is especially irksome - and silly. It's like saying that, because you never heard of any mistakes at the local hospital this year, it must be true that none were made. Only worse, because (as you pointed out) only a slight effort at research on the Net would have proven that part of the pro-nuke argument dead wrong.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10183891839987655906noreply@blogger.com