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First New Nuclear Plant in US in 30 years
Hugh Pickens writes "With backing from the White House and congressional leaders, and subsidies like the $500 million in risk insurance from the Department of Energy, the nuclear industry is experiencing a revival in the US. Scientific American reports that this week NRG Energy filed an application for the first new nuclear power plant in the US in thirty years to build two advanced boiling water reactors (ABWR) at its South Texas nuclear power plant site doubling the 2700 megawatts presently generated at the facility. The ABWR, based on technology already operating in Japan, works by using the heat generated by the controlled splitting of uranium atoms in fuel rods to directly boil water into steam to drive turbines producing electricity. Improvements over previous designs include removing water circulation pipes that could rupture and accidentally drain water from the reactor, exposing the fuel rods to a potential meltdown, and fewer pumps to move the water through the system. NRG projects it will spend $6 billion constructing the two new reactors and hopes to have the first unit online by 2014."
And don't forget the chemical weapons used at the start of the 2nd Iraq war. (W/P and Napalm)
So and because of that, you want to forbid Iran to have a nuclear programme?
If I went by the same reasoning we'd have to forbid the US from having one, too. The hard truth is that a sizeable part of the world's population doesn't trust you as far as they can throw you. A sizeable part of the world's population also is unsure of which leader of the two countries in question is the more evil dictator.
There's alsways a lot of emotion in such arguments. The real problem about it is the feeling that you have the RIGHT to forbid another country from having a nuclear programme.
Basically, if we hadn't fucked with them arabs for years I'd bet we wouldn't have to be scared of them now. It's like the school bully who torments those weaker than him for two years and hiding the third when the others are fed up with him and start working together to pay him back.
USA coming out with an announcement they threaten to attack themselves if they don't stop their own nuclear plans.
I mean, USA of all knows best, that building nuclear power plants is just a facade. They plan to nuke themselves!
Is that you Karl Rove?
1. The possibility that the documentation and design of this plant will be written in Imperial system units (Toshiba has won the contract, btw; last time I checked Japan is very much ISO).
2. That some overweight Texan family is going to drive over to their local city hall in an SUV the size of Rhode Island that gets 2.5kpl (about 6mpg numb-nuts) with their "not in my backyard" signs.
FYI, Japan had offered to surrender before we dropped the FIRST bomb. We had already defeated them. How do you know it would have been 10 million casualties? Can you magically predict the past's future?
-metric
But, dammit, nuclear energy has no alternative for the moment.
Not true..
http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=46415
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/08/worlds_largest_4.php
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/06/21/BUG9VJHBLB1.DTL
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1321857,00.html
http://www.pvresources.com/en/top50pv.php
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6031995.stm
All of Americas power needs could be supplied by (for example) covering 100x100 km of the Nevada Desert with PV cells. Why not just bite the bullet and do it?
there are risks in nuclear energy production
Hmm.. People dont realise just how close 3 mile island came to being as bad as Chernobyl - by sheer luck the vessel held the molten glob of reactor fuel. For a little exersize, extrapolate a Chernobyl scale incident to the 3 mile island area..
http://americanhistory.si.edu/tmi/tmi03.htm
"A nation that forgets its past is doomed to repeat it." - Churchill
Bullshit.