Nuclear Power for Galena? (Hope, Flat: rent, lease, work)

[Arcticthaw]

I agree waste is the biggest issue, now if we could just generate electricity by breaking the wast components apart....

I think we still have active uranium mines in the US. That is a guess though.

[warptman]

Oh goody! My illudium Q-36 explosive space modulator.

[Arcticthaw]

Ok the martian in bugs bunny right?

[warptman]

Yea, Marvin The Martian.

[Rance]

Warpt...you have "got" to post a picture of Marvin with that quote!

[warptman]

Its posted!

[Xa'at]

Originally Posted by Arcticthaw

I agree waste is the biggest issue, now if we could just generate electricity by breaking the wast components apart....

I think we still have active uranium mines in the US. That is a guess though.

I believe that we can, it's just criminally inefficient. The thing that really nails the coffin, though is that even after millions of years, when uranium finally decays to a stable isotope, you know what it is?
I'll give you a hint. It's known to the state of california (via prop 65) to cause cancer and birth defects.
Lovely, right?
As for the uranium mines, they may be active now, but thinking in the future... Uranium is still a consumable. On the other hand, when you think about the products needed for fusion, it's all pretty basic stuff. Hydrogen is it, really, (actually, deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen that is also quite common) and whatever you need to initiate the reaction. Hydrogen is the easiest thing in the world to come by, and there's plenty of it out there in the universe too. Handy stuff. As far as waste products go, you're looking at a little bit of helium, which is harmless and fun at parties, and trace amounts of tritium, a rare hydrogen isotope that could potentially cause problems in very, very high amounts. A fusion power plant would, theoretically, not be at risk for a runaway reaction, and advanced fail safes would not be necessary because of the very specific environment required to sustain the reaction- in other words you can shut it off.
It's good stuff, really. And yes I know I sound like an ad for fusion. This is one of my interests- when I was a little gal I wanted to be a theoretical physicist/chemist. You know, strings, wormholes, etc etc.

[Marty Van Diest]

I'm pretty convinced that in about 30 years or earlier we will have harnessed the sun through efficeint solar cell technology. Then we won't need coal plants or nuclear. Except for those of us in the dark North of course.

Most of the world will also not need oil or gas. It will go the way of whale oil and where will our Alaska economy be then?

[Xa'at]

Well, it's safe to say that solar energy is really the only true environmentally friendly power source. Hydroelectric harms fish, and wind generators screw with bird migration. Geothermal is actually another idea, though, but it's not really commercially feasible on the scale that we're talking about.
Unfortunately, solar is incredibly inefficient, and not exactly reliable either. The technology needs some work, but it could indeed be the energy of the future.

[Arcticthaw]

Originally Posted by Marty Van Diest

I'm pretty convinced that in about 30 years or earlier we will have harnessed the sun through efficeint solar cell technology. Then we won't need coal plants or nuclear. Except for those of us in the dark North of course.

Most of the world will also not need oil or gas. It will go the way of whale oil and where will our Alaska economy be then?

The next great commodity is water. He who figures out how to clean it and make it pure again cheaply will be wealthy. Desalinization works but is expensive to operate.