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Uranium Pebbles May Light the Way
kristy_christie writes "According to Wired News, South Africa's state-run utility giant Eskom and its international partners want to build the world's first commercial 'pebble bed' reactor, which, instead of using fuel rods, 'is packed with tennis ball-size graphite "pebbles," each containing thousands of tiny uranium dioxide particles'. To developers, the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor promises a rebirth of nuclear energy. Proponents insist that the reactor's design features make it 'meltdown-proof' and 'walk-away safe'."
"Africa" is not a state- it's a continent containing many many independent, sovereign nations - about 50, I think. In this case, the state in question is called "South Africa". They have the state-owned company with this new proposal.
Why do they invest more money in such technologies. They have the Sahra desert. 10% of that desert would be enough for supplying the whole world (yes, even the USA) with enough energy.
The problems with solar based energy production are purely political, not technical.
People are going to have to start to do some sensible and unemotional re-evaluation of nuclear power generation pretty damn soon.
Yep, some people will die from an increased incidence of cancer and yes, some people will die from nuclear mishaps and/or terrorism.
However, global climate change will kill billions of people unless fossil fuel utilisation is vastly reduced over the next century.
Renewable energy supplies may solve some of the problem. USAians forgoing their gas guzzling trucks and starting to think some about energy efficiency willl solve some more. However, the only current economically viable non CO2-producing technology is nuclear fission and adopting it on a wider scale will save lives and help to protect the environment.
You'll never convince the lumpenproletariat of the fact, though.