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Nuclear Power Could See a Revival
shmG writes "As the US moves to reduce dependence on oil, the nuclear industry is looking to expand, with new designs making their way through the regulatory process. No less than three new configurations for nuclear power are being considered for licensing by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The first of them could be generating power in Georgia by 2016."
Oblig xkcd:
I can't find the link, but it's the one which says that everything ready in 5 years will be ready in 10, 10 in 20, 20 in some time in the future etc. It would be funny, and I'd get a +5 Funny mod. However now I'm just going to get people who are pissed that they click this link and end up at the top of this page
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
Actually, we'd be better off with geothermal. We'd get it online quicker, too.
MIT released a study (2007, link below) proving the economic viability of deep drilled, "hot-rock geothermal" energy in the US, delivered as electricity. The technology is proven and robust (Iceland has been doing it for a long time), the US just needs to drill deeper to find the same amount of heat. The plants are cheaper to build and last longer than fission energy stations because there's no neutron flux to chew up the materials and so no need to replace the equipment after 20-30 years. The technology is carbon neutral and clean, there's a lot less political and technical hassle getting permits, less toxic waste, no nuclear fuel cycle problems, and no radioactive waste (OK, maybe some radon). Just don't do too much hydraulic rock fracturing in geologically unstable areas (instead, build chambers to flow the water through, not just areas of cracked rocks with pressurized water) and it will be fine.
When we start pushing wells into, for example, hot areas a few kilometers below and a couple of hundred kilometers horizontally from Yosemite and Yellowstone, we'll be able to plug lots of 100MW plants into the grid pretty much wherever we want. You don't even need to be close to such hot areas as Yellowstone: you can drill down pretty much anywhere and find sufficient heat if you go deep enough, and even the greatest depths are well within the limits of drilling technology.
This isn't some wild dream: those MIT rocket surgeons have read books and stuff. ;*)
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/geothermal.html
http://iceland.vefur.is/iceland_nature/geology_of_iceland/geothermal_heat.htm