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I like Nukes, what's not to like. Even the tree huggers should like nukes. They been proved safe for years now. Its cleaner and cheaper than coal. Tree huggers seem to want everyone to live on wind and solar electricity. What they refuse to accept is that it is impossible to supply everyone with a reliable source of power from these sources.
... slowest known building process Nukes? (typically a decade or more),
A quick check with google shows that in the US, through the 80s and 90s nuke production typically takes 4 to 6 years.
Example build times looking at three of the most recent new nukes:
25 October 1989 to 24 June 1995
14 September 1992 to 1 September 1997
5 December 1998 to 13 May 2004
A quick check with google shows that in the US, through the 80s and 90s nuke production typically takes 4 to 6 years.
Example build times looking at three of the most recent new nukes:
25 October 1989 to 24 June 1995
14 September 1992 to 1 September 1997
5 December 1998 to 13 May 2004
Present times now scope around 10 years, but even your 4 to 6 years is about . . . 4 to 6 times longer than any other generation source.
But why with that long laundry list --
Quote:
non-insurable Nukes? (only way they can be built is the .gov gives them waivers on basic liability requirements)
.gov welfare Nukes? (80% of project cost is .gov underwritten)
surplus-base-load only Nukes? (Nukes totally miss the ability to meet day-time peak),
slowest known building process Nukes? (typically a decade or more),
most expensive electrical generators ever conceived Nukes? (usually make power bills Go Up when they come on-line)
no way to clean up the existing mess, let alone future . . . Nukes?
-- did you only pick out Building Timelines?
Guess you already know the rest is completely true?
You retiring out of the Nuke Navy and looking for a job?
There is a life-long job ahead in just cleaning up the mess left to US.
If we (could) clean up one of these messes a year . . . we would still be cleaning 100 years from now.
You will have no choice but to have more nuclear power.
Your president has it out for coal.
He wants to phase out coal fired power plants.
Humm, what do you suppose they will be replaced with?
hint, It' won't be wind.
You want more power to charge your "smart" car?
Think nuclear.
Really?
No need for any new Nukes or Coal, at this point.
Electrical Power is so surplus, entire Coal generation sites are being parked --
Things have gotten to the point where the Utilities in Texas (strongest economy in the US, btw) are giving away power for free at night because it is so surplus. And that is with the surplus Coal sites shut-down.
As far as powering the car . . . or most of the US ground transportation for that matter . . . it can all be done by Solar from a small chunk of Nevada or Texas for the whole US.
The world and technology has changed. Nukes are legacy from the Cold War.
Only things lagging behind are old debt and some older folks mindsets.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — On sizzling-hot summer afternoons in Texas, when cranked-up air-conditioners cause electricity demand to surge, hotels sometimes dim their lobby lights. Air-conditioners may briefly pause, and farmers may stop running their electric water pumps.
Such adjustments reflect a simple truth: When electricity use spikes, power grid operators face a difficult choice if they want to avoid blackouts. They can turn on another power plant, which is costly and polluting or they can reduce the demand for power by encouraging citizens and businesses to cut back on needless energy consumption.
Probably forgot I work this market, so I know the real deal.
Here is the math:
The much hyped Texas Summer (Air Conditioning) Peak is about 6 hours a day for maybe 30 days per year, maximum (on both those numbers).
So that works out: 6 hours X 30 days = 180 hours or so per year.
Now consider the number of hours in a year: 24 hours X 365 days = 8760 hours.
Some goesina . . . 180 / 8760 = 0.02, or about 2%.
So this (mostly hype) Great Shortage, OMIGOD We Are A-Going Under Crisis is . . . ummm . . . about . . . [drum roll, please] . . . 2% of the overall Run Time.
Yeah 2%.
Can't keep the doors open for 2% of the time.
I know. We spent million$ on this site trying to keep it going this Spring.
The "End of Endless Growth" is becoming a problem throughout the entire economy. E built a system since WW2 that measured economic success not just on making a profit but also becoming larger at an increasing rate every year. The rate of growth has slowed overall and actually reversed in some places. The investment computer programs and their managers do not know how to handle the current times.
IMHO we need to wean our electric utilities off coal as a fuel because of the gas and particulate pollution at the stack and the radioactive materials in the ash piles. Both of these costs have been externalized by the utilities and make coal an artificially low cost fuel.
These coal fired boilers should be replaced, possibly on the same sites allowing the continued use of the steam turbines and generators, with properly sized high temperature gas cooled nuclear reactors sized to provide steam for the existing engines. These reactors are not subject to the enriched fuel requirements of the water cooled reactors currently in use. These devices can operate on unenriched uranium as well as all manner of transuranic and breed able non fissile fuel. These can be at the heart of an electrical generation system that eliminates long half life waste as well as breeds more fuel than it uses.
As a country we would do well to have these plants built and operated by the federal government and supply electricity to the privately owned utilities on a wholesale basis. If we slowed or reversed the growth of our Military production complex we would have the energy to be completely free of foreign energy suppliers.
Last edited by GregW; 11-26-2012 at 07:17 AM..
Reason: attempt to reset font
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Endless Growth - RIP
