Slashdot Mirror
Could Nuclear Power Wean the U.S. From Oil?
bblackfrog asks: "Is a Federal nuclear energy program viable? That is, can the USA eliminate our economic dependence on crude oil with a large scale federal program to build and maintain enough nuclear power plants to replace our current oil-based energy needs? The obvious political hurdles are (a) the left opposes nuclear energy, (b) the right opposes federalizing energy, and (c) the oil companies and Saudis wield a lot of clout. This makes a federal nuclear energy program far fetched I admit, however I'm more interested in the economics. Slashdot has covered advances in nuclear power technology. China's doing it." (Read more, below.)
"How much energy is required to replace our fossil fuel consumption? What are the initial costs of the program, and just how cheap could the electricity be? How expensive would it be for our industries to convert? How expensive for home and auto conversions? How much of this cost should be picked up by the government? Bottom line: is nuclear power cheaper than our current oil-driven middle-east policy, with all of its blowback?"
Getting Bush to reduce oil consumtion would be like getting Kerry to reduce ketchup consumtion...
Bush is from an oil family.
I'm not saying France gets most of its electricity from oil. I'm saying that France's Interior Minister accepted oil voucher bribes from Saddam Hussein to influence the U.N. Security Council to drop sanctions against Iraq so he could finish developing weapons of mass destruction. A lot of people like the idea of weaning us off oil because it would drastically reduce the funding available to Islamofascists.
"Wow. Now THAT'S a lot of angry Indians." - Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer
Ever driven through Nevada? Eastern Oregon? Utah? Idaho? What about Texas?
There's a lot of flatlands and grasslands in America viable for Solar and Wind power.
Hydro - I live in BC - you're argument is stupid. We have many, many dams, and our salmon survive. You build channels around the dam. The salmon adapt. Pacific salmon are more at risk because of our stupid salmon farming programs than our dams.
Speaking of Nevada, I drove accross from Salt Lake City to Reno, and I must say the area where there's a power plant disgusted me. An entire valley covered with black smoke. How much does THAT destroy the environment?
Nukular is the way to go. Definately the right now, but there are viable alternatives too.
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A lot of us just figure that Americans are blitheringly stupid, especially after this last election (and yes, I am an American).
Nathan's blog
"The estimates are that we'd have a ~100 year supply of Uranium if all power was switched to nuclear power today. This figure does not take reprocessing and non-uranium fission into account."
Of course, that's WITHOUT counting all your uranium supplies in, say, Niger, SouthAfrica, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Uzbekistan, and some other countries waiting to be liberated by US Marines.
I don't have a sig.
It's not the about the accent... it's about being, you know... DUMB.
I don't have a sig.
I'm glad that your read the comment, but simply couldn't stop looking in the f-ing mirror. this was a decision to move my office three blocks from my home, and walk to f-ing work. I'm not applying any ethics to your world view no matter how insulated it may be. Nor, am I legislating my ethics. But, if you think that I'm sending my eighteen year old son to Iraq to defend your right to go to the Walmart, you're wrong. I'd sooner put a bullet through your head than some happless Iraqi who just happened to be born above a resource we need to thrive in the way we feel is our right.