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Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
16,259 posts, read 24,761,129 times
Reputation: 3587
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JohKnip
Yeah Nuclear is great until regulation goes down the drain as it has with the coal and oil industry and we have a NUCLEAR DISASTER! Oh and yes I know about wind turbines exploding, but tell me what do you think would be worse, a nuclear meltdown near a major city possibly or a wind turbine going boom in a field some where in the country where it would scar the land a bit until it is repaired, and possibly hurt the unlucky driver if they were driving by and close enough to the blades.
You know coal probably kills more people than nuclear has. Has nuclear power killed anybody in the USA as of yet? We have over 100 of them now operating. France has about 55 or so and not one soul has been killed there. You cannot measure all the people that the horrible air pollution from coal plants has killed but you can measure hundreds of dead miners.
The electricity doesn't have to be generated in the northeast. With the proper infrastructure, it could be generated anywhere in the country and delivered to anywhere in the country.
Solar and wind power is the way to go. We need it - widespread - ASAP.
wind power in unreliable at best. solar is a possibility on a small scale, but solar farms are not going to produce the amount of electricity needed either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shorebaby
How do you plan to dispose of the batteries?
"There are the hazards of the cars themselves. We don't yet fully comprehend the hazards to drivers, passengers and first responders after, say, a collision between an electric clown car and an 18-wheeler. Then there's a whole new problem of disposing of a new generation of batteries using lithium."
since lithium is a metal, it is 100% recyclable, like every other metal used in batter production. in fact with the exception of case materials, and some electrolytes, every part of every battery is recyclable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by afoigrokerkok
Massive solar towers, solar farms, and wind farms could easily meet our needs.
The land in the southwest is vast and sparsely populated - plenty of room and in the perfect position for huge solar and wind energy projects.
i have seen the wind farms in southern california. they are a blight on the landscape, fully 3/4 of them were not turning, and even when the farm was fully operational, it provided electricity to 1000 homes. not a good trade off, and wind farms have issues in that the large propellers have a nasty habit of killing birds.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sanrene
I'm sure we can come up with solutions to the problem.
You didn't answer the question - France and Japan are heavily dependent on nuclear energy - how do they manage?
When's the last time you heard of an accident?
Chernobyl & 3 Mile - that's it.
many russian subs were accidents in motion, and there was a nuclear accident in idaho in the late 40's iirc. as for nuclear fuel rods, they can be recycled since uranium is in fact metal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spot
There is no solution to nuclear waste. It lasts for hundreds of thousands of years and is just as toxic 600,000 years from now as it is today. The only solution is to not produce it in the first place.
They have no idea how to dispose of it. They admit that fact. The more they make, the bigger the problem. You sound like a big advocate for nuclear energy, so how do you propose we dispose of it. Burying it doesn't work. It leaks. Sealing it in containers doesn't work. It leaks. Sending it to the bottom of the ocean doesn't work. It leaks. Nothing works. It leaks.
So since you are so sure that it's such a great solution to our energy needs, you must know of a full-proof solution for disposing of the waste that the rest of us don't. I can't imagine that you would advocate for nuclear energy unless you are absolutely certain that it won't kill tens of millions of people in the future once the waste builds up. Please do share with the rest of us how you plan to get rid of the waste!
again uranium is 100% recyclable since it is a metal. we only use 5% of the total potential of each uranium fuel pellet. once that has been reached it goes into a cooling pond before being sealed into a container to be buried. but these fuel pellets can be recycled, reenriched, and used again, just like france does. there are also new nuclear technologies that allow reactors to use fuel pellets longer. and once uranium gets to the point where it cant be enriched anymore, we can always melt it down and use it as projectiles fired from the A10 warthog to kill tanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tinman01
In all Fairness Chernobyl is a classic example of poor design and even worse maintenance. I agree with much of your post but we can not evem begin to compare a a Reactor of Chernobyls design to that of what the USA builds. Apples to oranges.
A Plasma incinerator is a viable solution. It in fact generates power from what it incinerates including toxic waste products.
truth on chernobyl. it was an extremely poor design. as for plasma incinerators, we do need more of them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by archineer
Everybody's clueless as usual.
and your ideas are??
Quote:
Originally Posted by GregW
I would be very happy to have a privately owned nuclear electric power plant in my back yard. Being privately owned would mean the plant would pay enough property tax to cover 90% of the town spending and I would get a substantial tax cut. I would like that.
More seriously, I think we should convert our domestic electric power to nuclear with full fuel recycle similar to the French system and eliminate coal, oil and natural gas as power plant fuel ASAP. We should also greatly increase tidal, hydro, wind, and solar energy collection methods. This would result in much cleaner air and save our domestic oil for chemical feedstock.
for the most part i agree with you. i would switch coal fired plants over to natural gas power, and save the oil and coal for use in automobiles while we switch over to alternative energy sources, including renewable sources.
Quote:
Originally Posted by archineer
Actually waiting for fossil fuel production to go into decline is the worst thing we can do, as alternative energy technologies require substantial fossil fuel inputs in order for them to be scaled up.
you are correct. we need to use all sources of energy during a transition from oil to alternative energy solutions. we should have been doing this since the early 70's rather than relying on cheap oil.
Quote:
Originally Posted by plannine
Let's skip 'electric' and move straight to compressed air cars.
these are not the magic bullet you seem to think they are. you still need a source of power to run the air compressors to refill the tanks, and an on board source will require either battery power, or a small fuel powered engine to generate the needed pressure and volume to handle the load.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GregW
If I could find a cheap used electric car I would buy it because I have a good use for it. I travel 3.5 miles between my house and the park & ride lot every workday. This is the perfect duty for a small electric vehicle.
I use an old gas guzzler because it cost $2,500 seven years ago. The difference between first cost and operating expenses buys a lot of gasoline. Also electricity at $0.16 an KWh is not all that cheap. I’ll have to run some numbers to see if an electric car would actually save me money.
why not build an electric car? its not that hard to do, and plans are available from mother earth news. in fact you could convert your current car if you wish.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wapasha
You drive one of those, and hitting a sparrow on the highway would result in facial reconstruction surgery. Coffins on wheels is what they are.
Not to mention the millions of electric car batteries that would be sent to the landfills every year, due to normal replacement schedules. Then add that to all the extra batteries dealerships will retire earlier then their expiration dates, simply because its awful tough to sell a $15,000 used car, if in two years the buyer has to shell out $4,000 for new batteries.
again for the most part batteries are fully recyclable, with the exception of the plastics in the case, and some types of electrolytes.
You know coal probably kills more people than nuclear has. Has nuclear power killed anybody in the USA as of yet? We have over 100 of them now operating. France has about 55 or so and not one soul has been killed there. You cannot measure all the people that the horrible air pollution from coal plants has killed but you can measure hundreds of dead miners.
No I'm not saying its worse than coal or oil (I'm pro wind/solar). What I'm saying is I don't believe we should build more Nuclear plants over wind or solar, because of the risks. We were promised that oil drilling would be safe, and because regulations slipped, we have found out how safe oil drilling really is. As for the dangers, look at the Three Mile Island accident. Look at the Chernobyl Disaster. All it takes is one major accident like that, and the view on Nuclear power will be changed quite quickly. Also there have been other accidents in the United States due to Nuclear power that people just don't realize. Take a look.
No I'm not saying its worse than coal or oil (I'm pro wind/solar). What I'm saying is I don't believe we should build more Nuclear plants over wind or solar, because of the risks. We were promised that oil drilling would be safe, and because regulations slipped, we have found out how safe oil drilling really is. As for the dangers, look at the Three Mile Island accident. Look at the Chernobyl Disaster. All it takes is one major accident like that, and the view on Nuclear power will be changed quite quickly. Also there have been other accidents in the United States due to Nuclear power that people just don't realize. Take a look.
considering that only 7 people have died in nuclear accidents in the US since 1959, i would say that is a pretty damn good overall safety record, and a few of those deaths were due to stupidity and carelessness. and in all those cases except one or two, there was no radiation released into the environment. nuclear power has a pretty good safety record even compared to hydroelectric power. in fact nuclear power in this country is safer than many of the dams in this country.
considering that only 7 people have died in nuclear accidents in the US since 1959, i would say that is a pretty damn good overall safety record, and a few of those deaths were due to stupidity and carelessness. and in all those cases except one or two, there was no radiation released into the environment. nuclear power has a pretty good safety record even compared to hydroelectric power. in fact nuclear power in this country is safer than many of the dams in this country.
What my post went to prove was that accidents have been happening with the Nuclear power plants. Things have gotten bad with some of the plants and have only been corrected when something went wrong. We have gotten lucky that it has not been more serious but as I said all we need is one major disaster and then we are ****ed if you ask me. That land in Ukraine still hasn't recovered.
Exactly. Which is why coal-fired plants need to be eliminated in favor of solar and wind energy.
Don't think that is the point. Imagine the DRAIN on the GRID if we all had electric cars. Need Nuclear power for massive population use. Solar and wind are to small to provide enough power.
Exactly. Which is why coal-fired plants need to be eliminated in favor of solar and wind energy.
Eliminated? Totally unrealistic to suggest that this can be done with wind and solare. The wind does not always blow and the sun does not always shine.
Did it occur to you that many of the materials used for wind towers and PVC arrays also have to be mined from the earth?
There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. Why is this difficult to understand?
Despite all of this relatively attractive news regarding nuclear power, there has been no new order for a nuclear power plant since the 1970s. The last nuclear plant to be completed went on line in 1996. A few, perhaps four, construction licenses are still valid or are being renewed for half-completed reactors, but there are no active plans to finish these reactors.
Despite all of this relatively attractive news regarding nuclear power, there has been no new order for a nuclear power plant since the 1970s. The last nuclear plant to be completed went on line in 1996. A few, perhaps four, construction licenses are still valid or are being renewed for half-completed reactors, but there are no active plans to finish these reactors.
You can thank the democrats, the Left and the environmentalists for that.
You can thank the democrats, the Left and the environmentalists for that.
Then I"ll thank them properly. I was living in Central Ill. when that boondoggle, the Clinton nuclear power plant was being built. I left that area in 1980, and the plant finally went into operation in 1987! Good ole private enterprise at its finest!
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considering that only 7 people have died in nuclear accidents in the US since 1959, i would say that is a pretty damn good overall safety record, and a few of those deaths were due to stupidity and carelessness. and in all those cases except one or two, there was no radiation released into the environment. nuclear power has a pretty good safety record even compared to hydroelectric power. in fact nuclear power in this country is safer than many of the dams in this country.
More nuclear power necessary
