AREVA SELECTS IDAHO FALLS for Their 2 Billion $ Plant (Pocatello: university, snake)

[banjomike]

Personally, if what I posted above was to come about, I really hope Idaho Falls and Bonneville County does some very careful and comprehensive planning beforehand. I'm Idahoan to the bone, and I would hate to see Idaho Falls end up like Silicon Valley!
We are in a new century, but sprawl here continues on, as if it was still 1965. Way too much of the best farm land has already been paved over or cut up into little pieces for residential divisions full of over-wasteful, over-large houses.
We still have no good means of recycling here that make it easy for homeowners and for collection.

Idaho Falls is still too car-centric. When gas hits $5.00 and stays there, as it surely will, there is no new planning for the big differences that will surely come for folks who need to get to work every day.

Arriva's arrival (good alliteration, huh?) provides I.F. the opportunity to get ahead of the curve for a change. All we need are some folks who are committed to looking ahead, not backward. We have the time to do it, and that's a luxury that can either be used well or totally squandered.

[Mtn. States Resident]

Great posts everyone. Thanks for taking the time to discuss different aspects of what will change in Eastern Idaho when Areva arrives.

I share all of the hopes and also hope there is strong city/county planning starting yesterday. Yes, Areva could change a lot of things.

For the record, I'd rather have nuclear than so many more coal plants. How many miners have we lost in the U.S. the last year? How many deaths from nuclear? Nuclear is a better fit for many reasons, IMHO. I'm also an eastern Idaho native. I'm not afraid of rumors about nucleaer plants.


As you see new info about the progress Areva is making, please post. I think these discussions are useful. One never knows who may be designing a spin off or supply business currently so they can propose their company to Areva.

Keep up the great discussion..

MSR

[KTMMan]

Within 60 miles of my house I have a nuclear power plant (San Onofre), wind farms and a couple large solar plants. All seem to be an improvement over burning fossil fuels to generate power.

[jjkmd]

Nuclear energy is safe and efficient. And for the carbon footprint junkies, it makes a very little one. For some reason, there is a lot of paranoia along with it. It generates >70% of electricity in France. No horror stories from France...maybe their politics, but not from their energy policies.

Here's an interesting link on nuclear energy and deaths related compared to other sources of energy.
Safety of Nuclear Reactors

As for uranium enrichment, I don't know much about it...We have been doing this for decades. Pretty sure a new state-of-the-art facility will have taken all those bad things into account! But this is a very interesting thread!

P.S. As a side note, the depleted uranium makes for great bullets in our military! Seen what an A-10 can do to a tank with those?

[aelwero]

Uranium enrichment basically is the removal of U-238 from uranium found in it's natural state, leaving a higher % of U-235.

The "waste" generated is U-238, or "depleted Uranium", which is mostly used to create munitions (bullets), and to a lesser degree, is used as ballast (for a LOT of things). It's not "nuclear waste" in the normal context... it's more like "functional waste", and the U-238 "waste" is radioactive to a small enough degree that it's effectiely safe to use in public, as long as it isn't ingested or inhaled.

That means you shouldn't heat it up or use an angle grinder on it... the "dust" from grinding/sanding it would be dangerous, but in perspective, the vapors/dust from grinding or heating the Zinc coating on galvanized steel is FAR worse for you, so for the vast majority of the world, it's perfectly safe, and for those who it presents a hazard to, galvanized steel would present more of a hazard, and generally, those folks know the danger and can take precautions.

I am exposed to DU occasionally, because I'm military, and like everything else in the military, it's taught, re-taught, then taught some more until you get sick of hearing about it

A uranium enrichment plant is less dangerous as a gas/oil refinery, and performs a very similar function by producing fuel for nuclear reactors.

[Mtn. States Resident]

Thanks for the posts. Let's keep this discussion going - open to anyway (regardless of location) as energy is such a key issue right now.

Ideas from all sides are welcome, the only posts we don't want are political because that will force this thread to be moved to a political thread away from Idaho. This is an issue for people in the U.S. and other countires.

I have my own political feelings about who has helped and who has not, but they serve NO purpose here to try to share information with others.

Keep up the good work everyone. It's especially helpful when there are links for more information and personal experiences share.

MSR

[joox]

It sure seems like an interesting time to join the INL!

[ITWorkerBee]

OK got to ask what is the INL?

[joox]

Originally Posted by ITWorkerBee

OK got to ask what is the INL?

Idaho National Laboratory - http://www.inl.gov

"INL is a science-based, applied engineering national laboratory dedicated to supporting the U.S. Department of Energy's missions in nuclear and energy research, science, and national defense."

[Mtn. States Resident]

Avera-Idaho won't be at INL. It will be on the way to INL, but a separate location closer to Idaho Falls has been selected. It is documented in many places, but why not use Areva's information for accuracy....

The facilit will be 18 miles west of Idaho Falls.

From the Areva Blog:

"Eagle Rock Chosen as Top Project by Site Selection Magazine."

Eagle Rock Chosen as Top Project by Site Selection Magazine | AREVA North America: Next Energy Blog


Idaho Falls | AREVA North America: Next Energy Blog

Thanks for the continuing posts, it is interesting to read the information others share. I appreciate the manner all who have posted have kept this thread focused on Areva, Uranium, Nuclear Energy etc. and not about people. I also think the economic impact to the Idaho Falls area cannot be ignored.

I'm looking forward to reading more insightful posts by thoughtful readers.

MSR