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The Rise of Small Nuclear Plants
ColdWetDog writes "The Oil Drum (one of the best sites to discuss the technical details of the Macondo Blowout) is typically focused on ramifications of petroleum use, and in particular the Peak Oil theory. They run short guest articles from time to time on various aspects of energy use and policies. Today they have an interesting article on small nuclear reactors with a refreshing amount of technical detail concerning their construction, use, and fueling. The author's major thesis: 'Pick up almost any book about nuclear energy and you will find that the prevailing wisdom is that nuclear plants must be very large in order to be competitive. This assumption is widely accepted, but, if its roots are understood, it can be effectively challenged. Recently, however, a growing body of plant designers, utility companies, government agencies, and financial players are recognizing that smaller plants can take advantage of greater opportunities to apply lessons learned, take advantage of the engineering and tooling savings possible with higher numbers of units, and better meet customer needs in terms of capacity additions and financing. The resulting systems are a welcome addition to the nuclear power plant menu, which has previously been limited to one size — extra large.'"
The big problem with nuclear power is radioactive waste. There is no way to recycle it, and no matter where you put there is always the risk that it will show up in drinking water or somewhere else in the environment in the long run. I guess that all these small reactors will produce a lot more waste.
Third, only 1% of the electricity is the U.S. is generated using. Nuclear power will have absolutely no effect on our consumption of oil.
LIAR! YOU ARE A LIAR! Get your facts straight. It is more like 20%. This alone calls into question everything else you have to say. You have done no basic fact checking so you don't know what you are talking about, or, you know and choose to LIE! Which is it?
Fourth, and maybe most telling of all, is the Obama administration's recently proposal of $8 Billion in loan guarantees for the nuclear power industry. Translation -- nuclear power is such a bad investment that nobody wants to give them any money.
No, this is needed because it cost so much to get a new power-plant through all the political hurdles put up by LIARS like you who don't know WHAT THE F--K YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT! Please STFU and the let the grown-ups fix the problems.
Over-the-top Response Guy! Giving "Over-the-Top Responses" since 1970.
lolWUT?
there's a reason to make big power plants, and that's for efficiency, and since you don't seem to know thermodynamics, get the fuck out.
seriously. i'm sick of idiots coming to slashdot and wasting space. wasn't that long ago that this was a community of engineers.
There are some persistent issues with Radio active waste that no one has brought up. Lets ask the residents of Chernobyl what they think?
So many statements, so little truth!
1) Nuclear energy, as it's been sold so far, is ANYTHING but clean. 98% of the "fuel" that goes into a classic-style nuclear plant comes back out as highly toxic nuclear waste that isn't fit to live next to for 100,000 years. It can be reprocessed, but that comes with its own suite of problems.
2) There isn't an infinite amount of Uranium, either. Many would argue that we're already past "peak Uranium" so it's out of the pan and into the fire...
3) You can't just stick power plants wherever you like. High capacity transmission lines are *expensive* - it's usually much cheaper to stick your power plants closer to supply. Closer to supply means people are nearby, and people still freak out when they find out a Nuke plant might open up 10 miles away...
4) Why would we put nuke plants in the desert when they are so ripe for solar power? Solar power has now become cheap enough to compete with traditional power sources dollar for dollar in many areas, and the price is continuing to drop as new techologies continue to push the envelope Solar Energy does very well in sunny areas where the solar energy available closely matches the peak demand for Air Conditioning.
Nuke *can* be done right. But the (mostly legal/political) hurdles to do so are tall, and the benefits of a successful nuclear program are less compelling every year.
I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.