Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
When I told my neighbors I was leaving KS and moving back home to Charlotte, one of them said - OH NO!! Aren't there two nuclear power plants there?
I had to laugh, b/c where we lived in Kansas, there was a nuclear power plant about 45 miles away . . . but when I mentioned it to my neighbor, she was totally unaware of it, LOL!! For her, ignorance was definitely bliss.
TC is a beautiful area . . . I hope you will be able to move there . . . and maybe I will one day be your neighbor!!
Not looking to change your mind (to each their own)...but like I said before I was just a tad curious, and found it interesting that after what you'd stated (and how you feel about living by a nuclear plant) that you yourself live in close proximity to Catawba (since 1993).
Heck I wish you the best in your upcoming move but if you are considering the Greenville area (which is a very nice area)...you do realize there is a plant up that way too...right?
That Oconee plant near six-mile is about 30 miles away - still in the danger zone but not the EPZ - and it is not an ice cooled plant with a minimal containment structure which makes it very vulnerable, but rather has a dry containment structure, nor is it in the flight path of a major airline and it is not burning MOX fuel and Oconee county has done well with emergency preparedness. There are plenty of lower level accidents that can occur than a complete meltdown.
You cannot escape these things -- I realize that -- they are everywhere but people in the area can make their own decisions but I am just amazed people buy homes without knowing these kind of things.
Our plans to move are based primarily on other reasons.
I know you'll love living here. Everything is so convenient, and being from Mississippi, I have found the hospitality to be pretty close to back home. Even the Northerners who aren't use to folks smiling and speaking when you pass them on the sidewalks catch on quick!
As for the Nuclear power plant...I grew up during the 60's and 70's, read a lot of 'Whole Earth Catolog', 'Mother Earth News', etc.....and was very ill-informed about Nuclear Energy. I know you are busy now, but when you get settled in, Google Nuclear Power Plants/Energy on the web, and it won't take long for you to get a balanced opinion on the matter...I was really amazed at all the disinformation I had swallowed back in the day....hook, line and sinker.
Mainly I think it is a disclosure thing; people can select what they want to believe, but they should know the risk factors when moving into an area. Granted the risk of a nuclear accident is low but the severity high if it happens [If we were to do a FMEA study]- my main arguments have been about the design of the containment system at that plant and the burning of an experimental fuel particularly given the high population density.
As far as the implication that folks opposed to nuclear power [or certain power plants] are misinformed - well, having a masters degree in chemistry and having taken graduate level courses in nuclear physics, and as a member of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, I really don't feel misinformed. Many legitimate scientists agree.
Nice sites. I'll read them more in depth later. It's good to see varied positions, and I'll probably learn something new! Really! I mean that without any sarcasm.
I don't have a chemistry degree nor a degree in nuclear physics. I am a writer (newspaper/magazine editor background) and have specialized in healthcare, medical research, pharma, etc for about 20 years now . . . and so my interest in nuclear power is not only from an economics side . . . but also from a health perspective.
Creating electric power so that our society can function is imperative. How we generate that power has both an economic impact on our households as well as health and environmental implications. I can come up w/ lists of pros and cons for any type of energy generation we want to discuss.
Nuclear power is the best method for generating power, in my opinion, all factors considered. Solar panels - in regions where that method will be efficient - would also be at the top of my "clean power" list (but this is not feasible for all areas of the country, year round). I could go off the grid and use wood as fuel, cook with a wood stove, heat my home w/ wood and/or coal . . . and use a generator powered by gas/kerosene (or even ethanol, w/ modifications to the generator's motor) to power my computer, tv, and even a small fridge. I used to have a root cellar and a spring on my property. My g/parents had an outhouse on theirs. So I could live this way, as I HAVE experienced living this way. Heck, I have helped make cottage cheese and butter down at the spring house (where it was also stored). I have helped smoke meat in the smokehouse on my g/parents' property.
But environmentalists would point out that this lifestyle would be increasing my carbon footprint. Hmmmmm. Healthcare researchers would say my smoked meats would putting me at a high risk for cancer. And it sure would be labor intensive, chopping and splitting and stacking and carrying in that wood . . . stoking up the pot belly stoves . . . firing up the wood cook stove . . . and washing my clothes like my g/mother did in a big ole iron pot (or later, in that wringer washer - WHEW!!!!!)
I prefer plugging things into electric outlets. I like my central vac. :-) Nuclear power affords me the lifestyle I prefer. I would be happy to see additional methods used (wind, solar) . . . but consistent power (w/o blackouts and w/o huge cost increases to the consumer) mean using nuclear power.
One can discuss all sorts of "what ifs" in re: to changing the infrastructure in this country . . . including how power is generated. But what we have is what we have. The industry is regulated . . . and I just have to trust that even if something is "experimental," it is being monitored.
Chernobyl taught us that if an accident occurs, the fall out extends HUNDREDS of miles. Check a map. There is hardly anywhere in the USA one can hide out in hopes of avoiding the fallout should some nuclear power plant melt down.
That is why I feel this is a non-issue. Until someone figures out a way to consistently generate power (or harness it) in a more efficient manner . . . this is just a non-issue that the average person does not need to be concerned about. If I were to concern myself w/ all the risk factors in my life, I would never drive a car or fly . . . would never grill my meat . . . would eat no processed foods . . . would never take any meds . . . would never have surgery, etc. The risk factor w/ having any procedure done that requires anesthesia is higher than the risk factor I daily deal with by living near a nuclear power plant.
Just considerations for the average person as we enter into an era where more and more of these are intended to be built.
Its not just a chernobyl type accident ............
it is tritium leaching into groundwater
transport of fuel and waste using our roads and rails
susceptibility to terrorism and abysmal performance in terrorist simulations
management of a waste product that has a half life of 24,000 years
Our nuclear program was born, not out of a desire for cheap power, these plants are ridiculously expensive. They were built to provide weapons grade plutonium for nuclear bombs during the cold war.
SO back to square one and the OP's original question.....which was
...Tega Cay - Is there a catch?
Only if you are concerned about Nuclear Plants. If you are...then I would suggest that you don't move to Tega Cay, or for that matter
Fort Mill, SC...or
Clover, SC...or
Lake Wylie, SC...or
York, SC...or
Charlotte, NC...or
anywhere around Lake Norman, NC...or
the Greenville area, SC...or
South Carolina....or
North Carolina...or
..........oh heck...here's a map that you can check out yourself
Anifani821: I agree. I want to keep moving forward in growth of technology and energy innovation. We don't have to sacrifice our environment, or our standard of living. We have learned so much in the past 30 years or so. There was a very interesting speech given at the Nat'l. Press Club by the President of the Czech Republic back in May of this year. You should check it out online. He was speaking on how the communist government used 'green' issues to control the people and gain more power over them when he was growing up. He was also introducing a book of his. I forget the title, but you can google it. His name is V. Klaus. (I realize this is a bit off topic, but I think you might find it interesting.) (I'm not saying this is what people who are concerned about Nuclear Energy have in mind. I can understand where they are coming from.)
Anifani821: I agree. I want to keep moving forward in growth of technology and energy innovation. We don't have to sacrifice our environment, or our standard of living. We have learned so much in the past 30 years or so. There was a very interesting speech given at the Nat'l. Press Club by the President of the Czech Republic back in May of this year. You should check it out online. He was speaking on how the communist government used 'green' issues to control the people and gain more power over them when he was growing up. He was also introducing a book of his. I forget the title, but you can google it. His name is V. Klaus. (I realize this is a bit off topic, but I think you might find it interesting.) (I'm not saying this is what people who are concerned about Nuclear Energy have in mind. I can understand where they are coming from.)
I understand where everyone's concern is coming from, too. I worry about nuclear waste and disposing of it. Someone gets to be a dumping ground, LOL.
I think if we are going to continue living in a world dependent on electricity, we have to consider all avenues of creating it . . . or figure out how to live off the grid somehow, LOL.
Back to Tega Cay . . . Here is a link to nuclear power plant locations in the USA. If you want to live away from any chance (repeat - any chance) of any type of contamination - pick a state. The wind blows contaminates for long distances . . . and the water flows through many states interconnected w/ nuclear power plants . . . so if nuclear power plants are a concern . . . you should not be living in NC or SC, period.
INSCDB: Maps: UNITED STATES (http://www.insc.anl.gov/pwrmaps/map/united_states.html - broken link)
For that matter, you should not live anywhere in the whole NE of the country.
Last edited by brokensky; 06-27-2008 at 10:01 AM..
Reason: add sentence
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
