Slashdot Mirror
Stung By Scandal, South Korea Weighs Up Cost of Curbing Nuclear Power
mdsolar writes in about an ongoing scandal in South Korea that has rocked their nuclear power program. "It started with a few bogus safety certificates for cables shutting a handful of South Korean nuclear reactors. Now, the scandal has snowballed, with 100 people indicted and Seoul under pressure to rethink its reliance on nuclear power. A shift away from nuclear, which generates a third of South Korea's electricity, could cost tens of billions of dollars a year by boosting imports of liquefied natural gas, oil or coal. Although helping calm safety concerns, it would also push the government into a politically sensitive debate over whether state utilities could pass on sharply higher power bills to households and companies. Gas, which makes up half of South Korea's energy bill while accounting for only a fifth of its power, would likely be the main substitute for nuclear, as it is considered cleaner than coal and plants can be built more easily near cities."
Yep.
I wouldn't be surprised if Russia is wetting themselves as more and more countries are abandoning nuclear power and switching to natural gas, which Russia has a monopoly over in Asia.
Previewing comments are for sissies!
There is a big difference between a nuclear accident and other power plant accidents. It puts a huge swath of land into an uninhabitable state for a long period. Think about the property value in the area surrounding the Indian Point plant in NY. A full payout of the Price Anderson Act liability for a large accident there would topple the treasury. An accident at a coal plant isn't likely to put our very government in danger.
'On March 5, 2002, maintenance workers discovered that corrosion had eaten a football-sized hole into the reactor vessel head of the Davis-Besse plant. Although the corrosion did not lead to an accident, this was considered to be a serious nuclear safety incident.[65][66] The Nuclear Regulatory Commission kept Davis-Besse shut down until March 2004, so that FirstEnergy was able to perform all the necessary maintenance for safe operations. The NRC imposed its largest fine ever—more than $5 million—against FirstEnergy for the actions that led to the corrosion. The company paid an additional $28 million in fines under a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice.[65]'
You can't see me making the 'dick head' motion with my hand, but I'm making it.
It is South Korea. If you have a culture that will fuck up safety certificates at nuclear plants, do you think they are suddenly going to be better with natural gas plants?
Fix the fucking culture and kill the corruption. The technology was never the problem.
Do you think they have a monopoly on that culture? Witness our very own government owned and operated Tennessee Valley Authority and they falsified readings of wells around the coal slurry dam. Oh, they do it with nuclear too.
Time Bomber the Book coming soon.
Because ....
"Politicians at a congressional hearing on Monday estimated the recent nuclear scandals have cost operator KHNP nearly 3 trillion won ($2.8 billion) in cable replacement, loss of power sales and payment to KEPCO to replace nuclear power with electricity from other fuels. "
In other words: the fuel may be cheap, the total costs of nuclear might be much higher. And you cannot simply solve corruption. If that is possible with a reasonable cost, it would be solved now.
Simply reducing the problem to one point and declaring it will be solvable is armchair activism.
Look at it this way: the worst case scenario should be insured. But no conglomerate of insurers will ever insure your nuclear plant, because the worst case scenario is far too expensive.