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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?"
A nuclear disaster would wean the US off a lot of things.... oil, food, water, you name it.
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You're forgetting that Bush was just reelected.
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
I believe it's pronounced nucular.
Hold up, wait a minute, let me put some pimpin in it
Our President can correctly say the word "nuclear" and not a moment before.
...because France have already done it.
fusion power, maybe?
Into the oceans obviously!
Suprisingly if scattered out this is actually a good idea as there as underwater volcanos are already spilling out much more heavy metals and nuclear material than we can possibly dump, of couse as I said it would have to be ground up and spread out evently.
Not that the hippies would understand mind you.
yes i know it would take *a lot* of soy crop to meet the US oil consumption
That's why we need "Lipodiesel"-- when you climb into your SUV, you plug a little hose into a couple stents in your thighs and belly, and it gives you liposuction treatment while you drive, sending the fat into your engine to propel the vehicle. This would solve both the oil problem and the fat problem plaguing the united states, would mean that lazyass drivers wouldn't have to exercise, and could not only eat all the french fries they wanted, they would need to in order to fuel the vehicle. You just stop at the McDonalds drive-thru to fill up.
So, what we need is for the scientists to come up with mini nuclear reactors people can keep in their back yards. People can buy plutonium rods from the local supermarket, or maybe gas station if there's an issue with safety storing them (as there is with oil), take them home, insert into reactor, and spend another few months with plenty of power.
If we make them small enough, and our SUVs large enough, we can even use them to power our motor vehicles.
We live in a society where neither coal nor oil are considered unsafe enough to require serious safety regulations strict enough to keep them out of the hands of ordinary people. And, as every nuclear advocate will tell you, nuclear energy is safer and cleaner than either. It stands to reason we should be throwing away our gas powered generators and furnaces, our living room fireplaces, and our oil burning cars, and replace them with clean'n'safe Nuclear powered equivalents, today!
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
A renewable power source that creates guns and beer as its byproduct.
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That's no planet . . . it's a space station!!
</ob. Star Wars>
You want the truthiness? You can't handle the truthiness!
That's right, the only option that everyone agreed on was:
They're adundant (check the animal shelters), cheap (they're just giving the things away) and renewable ("breeder reactor" = 2 cats in a box with some catnip and a Barry White CD). It just goes to show that, with a little ingenuity, we can solve even the worst crises.
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I think Homer Simpson inadvertently walked out with it.
In the U.S., it's culturally impolite to cut the cheese. That's why it comes pre-cut and wrapped. ;-P
buy our electricity from the french
This is a great idea; salt water conducts electricity so we won't even need to lay cables.