Absolutely. It is common practice for the final stages of the turbine to exhaust to a vacuum. This permits the plant to operate more efficiently. The exhaust temperature of the turbines at the plant I work at is approx. 39 C
Nuclear plants typically do not "load follow". However your understanding of why is somewhat flawed. The priciple reason to avoid load following is a phenomenon know as a Xenon Transient. The element xenon will be produced in the reactor when power levels are changed from high power to low. Because the crossection of neutron absorbtion of xenon is huge, this plays hell with core reactivity and tries to shut it down. When power is increased, the xenon burns off, thereby increasing reactivity.
Additionally, nuclear is among the cheapest power on the grid so they are typically base load plants.
Typically yes, although the Nautilus used liquid sodium. I don't know about on the subs, but the primary water in a commercial nuke is so clean it would make you sick to drink it. Combine that with the corrosion inhibitors, and I wouldn't make a habit of drinking it.
Actually, the only difference was that the "music" cd-r's would work in the cd recorders sold as components in home theaters. These devices were drm encumbered, and would not accept "data" cd-r's.
Laminar flow results in poor mixing of the fluid. This lack of mixing will cause the portion of the flow not in contact with the heat source to remain cold. Turbulent flow actually results in better cooling (but it takes more work to move the fluid).
I'll try to respond to your points in order. (full disclosure: I work in nuclear power)
1) I honestly don't have a good answer for this. Hopefully the new generation of reactor designs will permit more widespread use. If my information is correct, the new PBMR designs significantly decrease the proliferation concerns.
2) Centralization is not necessarily a bad thing. There are efficiency gains from economy of scale, and maintenance on one or two units is a hell of a lot easier than maintaining 10,000.
3) It's one thing to get to or even past the front gate. It's another thing entirely to get into the protected area. I haven't seen reports of this, but I would be interested to read articles if you have them. (links please?)
4) Nuke plants are base loaded. They run at 100% ouput as much as possible. The reason for this is that they produce the cheapest power we've got. It's the fossil plants that actually follow the load throughout the day.
5) The waste is initially dangerous. However, we don't need to store it for 10,000 years. The really dangerous stuff is dangerous because it decays off at a fast rate. Thus, the more dangerous the material, the faster it peters out. The longer the half-life, the less dangerous the material is. I would be more afraid of the heavy metals than the radiation in many cases.
Adding hydrogen and oxygen probably would improve the power output. However, that increase would not be sufficient to produce the electrical power required to split the next batch of water.
I live south of Miami myself. I rode out Andrew in the house I'm currently in. If you look at the construction of the older houses (1950's - 1970's or so) you see structural features that take hurricanes into account. These houses did pretty well in the storm, all things considered (damage was still significant). Concrete block construction, double hurricane straps for the roof trusses, etc.
When you look at the houses built later (~1980's - 1992) you see utter garbage in many cases. Prior to Andrew, we had not had a hurricane hit Miami in 26 years. Thus, the developers had shat upon the building codes. The results became quite clear when the wind stopped.
Underground powerlines are great until the tree on top of them falls over and the roots tear them up.
You're wrong. Many utilities maintain so called "Peak Load" plants (often diesel generators). These plants are switched on to accommodate heavy load, then turned off once they are no longer required (diesel is expensive).
Running out of air really isn't that big a deal if you are within reasonable limits. As long as you're above about the 60 foot mark, and don't require decompression, you should be able to come straight to the surface. You will usually have enough air in your lungs to last you that long. In addition, you will regain the ability to extract air from your tank as you ascend.
I've seen it before. From the best of my understanding, it is essentially a combination of mechanical engineering and naval architecture with a focus on the marine environment.
JK:... We'd be running the exact same spots. It would all be incremental viewership. That's just one idea. I'm a big believer we have to make television more convenient or we will drive the penetration of PVRs and things like that, which I'm not sure is good for the cable industry or the broadcast industry or the networks.
CW: Why not?
JK: Because of the ad skips.... It's theft. Your contract with the network when you get the show is you're going to watch the spots. Otherwise you couldn't get the show on an ad-supported basis. Any time you skip a commercial or watch the button you're actually stealing the programming.
CW: What if you have to go to the bathroom or get up to get a Coke?
JK: I guess there's a certain amount of tolerance for going to the bathroom. But if you formalize it and you create a device that skips certain second increments, you've got that only for one reason, unless you go to the bathroom for 30 seconds. They've done that just to make it easy for someone to skip a commercial.
Not that I'd condone this, but it actually is that easy. You change the reported MAC address. Not a big deal at all. They'll have a really hard time tracking down who bought the card with the MAC of "FEEDDEADBEEF".
The reported MAC can be changed at the OS level, and there is no need to alter the card in any way.
For the record, the US version was hosted on Comedy Central. It was a little more serious, but the intention was still to have a good time. It may just have been the way it was edited. The only thing that kind of drove me nuts from the uk show was the house robots. Just my preference.
Stop being an elitist asshole. Both USFIRST and BattlebotsIQ give a good deal of inspiration to the younger generation.
USFIRST requires the kids to do considerably less fabrication. Additionally, the sheer quantity of money required to compete in USFIRST pretty much kills off most groups who would like to participate.
BattlebotsIQ is only a $500 entry fee per bot. For the same $5k that it would cost to register for USFIRST, we're sending two teams to BattlebotsIQ with build, travel, and lodging included.
Strictly speaking, the word robot implies some autonomous functionality. Some of the machines in the competition probably qualify under this definition, and some probably don't. It isn't uncommon to automate some processes (weapon reloading etc.)
Having gone through 200 mph winds in Hurricane Andrew, I would much rather have concrete between me and a flying two by four than a sheet of cardboard. This design would not be any safer than a traditional mobile home. Of course, we all know what happens to those in a severe windstorm (even the supposedly stronger ones).
I heard a quote once: "It's not that the wind is blowin'. It's what the wind is blowin'. "
Additionally, the high profile of this design would likely result in the house tipping over in a significant wind.
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Absolutely. It is common practice for the final stages of the turbine to exhaust to a vacuum. This permits the plant to operate more efficiently. The exhaust temperature of the turbines at the plant I work at is approx. 39 C
IAANSO (nuclear systems operator)
Nuclear plants typically do not "load follow". However your understanding of why is somewhat flawed. The priciple reason to avoid load following is a phenomenon know as a Xenon Transient. The element xenon will be produced in the reactor when power levels are changed from high power to low. Because the crossection of neutron absorbtion of xenon is huge, this plays hell with core reactivity and tries to shut it down. When power is increased, the xenon burns off, thereby increasing reactivity.
Additionally, nuclear is among the cheapest power on the grid so they are typically base load plants.
Typically yes, although the Nautilus used liquid sodium. I don't know about on the subs, but the primary water in a commercial nuke is so clean it would make you sick to drink it. Combine that with the corrosion inhibitors, and I wouldn't make a habit of drinking it.
Actually, the only difference was that the "music" cd-r's would work in the cd recorders sold as components in home theaters. These devices were drm encumbered, and would not accept "data" cd-r's.
Laminar flow results in poor mixing of the fluid. This lack of mixing will cause the portion of the flow not in contact with the heat source to remain cold. Turbulent flow actually results in better cooling (but it takes more work to move the fluid).
I'll try to respond to your points in order.
(full disclosure: I work in nuclear power)
1) I honestly don't have a good answer for this. Hopefully the new generation of reactor designs will permit more widespread use. If my information is correct, the new PBMR designs significantly decrease the proliferation concerns.
2) Centralization is not necessarily a bad thing. There are efficiency gains from economy of scale, and maintenance on one or two units is a hell of a lot easier than maintaining 10,000.
3) It's one thing to get to or even past the front gate. It's another thing entirely to get into the protected area. I haven't seen reports of this, but I would be interested to read articles if you have them. (links please?)
4) Nuke plants are base loaded. They run at 100% ouput as much as possible. The reason for this is that they produce the cheapest power we've got. It's the fossil plants that actually follow the load throughout the day.
5) The waste is initially dangerous. However, we don't need to store it for 10,000 years. The really dangerous stuff is dangerous because it decays off at a fast rate. Thus, the more dangerous the material, the faster it peters out. The longer the half-life, the less dangerous the material is. I would be more afraid of the heavy metals than the radiation in many cases.
They forgot to mention that ambient temperature at the test site was 0 Kelvin.
Adding hydrogen and oxygen probably would improve the power output. However, that increase would not be sufficient to produce the electrical power required to split the next batch of water.
I live south of Miami myself. I rode out Andrew in the house I'm currently in. If you look at the construction of the older houses (1950's - 1970's or so) you see structural features that take hurricanes into account. These houses did pretty well in the storm, all things considered (damage was still significant). Concrete block construction, double hurricane straps for the roof trusses, etc.
When you look at the houses built later (~1980's - 1992) you see utter garbage in many cases. Prior to Andrew, we had not had a hurricane hit Miami in 26 years. Thus, the developers had shat upon the building codes. The results became quite clear when the wind stopped.
Underground powerlines are great until the tree on top of them falls over and the roots tear them up.
Florida: Hurricanes, Fires (rarely) California: Fires, Mudslides, Pacific Cyclones, Earthquakes, etc. Plus, Florida has fewer Californians. FL>CA
*cough* blizzards *cough*
You're wrong. Many utilities maintain so called "Peak Load" plants (often diesel generators). These plants are switched on to accommodate heavy load, then turned off once they are no longer required (diesel is expensive).
Good luck to you. Hopefully this thing won't get a chance to re-strengthen in the gulf.
I'm writing this from Miami, we aren't getting it too bad yet. Luckilly, we're getting a glancing blow.
Once again, good luck and keep you head down.
Running out of air really isn't that big a deal if you are within reasonable limits. As long as you're above about the 60 foot mark, and don't require decompression, you should be able to come straight to the surface. You will usually have enough air in your lungs to last you that long. In addition, you will regain the ability to extract air from your tank as you ascend.
I've seen it before. From the best of my understanding, it is essentially a combination of mechanical engineering and naval architecture with a focus on the marine environment.
Jamie Kellner said so in an interview with CableWorld
. cgi?pub=cw&mon=042902&file=contents_king.inc
... We'd be running the exact same spots. It would all be incremental viewership. That's just one idea. I'm a big believer we have to make television more convenient or we will drive the penetration of PVRs and things like that, which I'm not sure is good for the cable industry or the broadcast industry or the networks.
http://www.broadband-pbimedia.com/cgi/cw/show_mag
excerpt below:
JK:
CW: Why not?
JK: Because of the ad skips.... It's theft. Your contract with the network when you get the show is you're going to watch the spots. Otherwise you couldn't get the show on an ad-supported basis. Any time you skip a commercial or watch the button you're actually stealing the programming.
CW: What if you have to go to the bathroom or get up to get a Coke?
JK: I guess there's a certain amount of tolerance for going to the bathroom. But if you formalize it and you create a device that skips certain second increments, you've got that only for one reason, unless you go to the bathroom for 30 seconds. They've done that just to make it easy for someone to skip a commercial.
Could you think of a better word to put on the front of a vehicle that is coming towards you?
It's not just a name, it's an instruction.
Not that I'd condone this, but it actually is that easy. You change the reported MAC address. Not a big deal at all. They'll have a really hard time tracking down who bought the card with the MAC of "FEEDDEADBEEF".
The reported MAC can be changed at the OS level, and there is no need to alter the card in any way.
I stand corrected. I wasn't aware of the show on TNT and thought the OP was making reference to battlebots. I guess I have some more to watch. Thanks.
For the record, the US version was hosted on Comedy Central. It was a little more serious, but the intention was still to have a good time. It may just have been the way it was edited. The only thing that kind of drove me nuts from the uk show was the house robots. Just my preference.
Stop being an elitist asshole. Both USFIRST and BattlebotsIQ give a good deal of inspiration to the younger generation.
USFIRST requires the kids to do considerably less fabrication. Additionally, the sheer quantity of money required to compete in USFIRST pretty much kills off most groups who would like to participate.
BattlebotsIQ is only a $500 entry fee per bot. For the same $5k that it would cost to register for USFIRST, we're sending two teams to BattlebotsIQ with build, travel, and lodging included.
Strictly speaking, the word robot implies some autonomous functionality. Some of the machines in the competition probably qualify under this definition, and some probably don't. It isn't uncommon to automate some processes (weapon reloading etc.)
What, you don't think MIT is full of nut jobs?
That smell is the result of having your brain extracted via your nostril.
Having gone through 200 mph winds in Hurricane Andrew, I would much rather have concrete between me and a flying two by four than a sheet of cardboard.
This design would not be any safer than a traditional mobile home. Of course, we all know what happens to those in a severe windstorm (even the supposedly stronger ones).
I heard a quote once: "It's not that the wind is blowin'. It's what the wind is blowin'. "
Additionally, the high profile of this design would likely result in the house tipping over in a significant wind.