pray for no earthquakes in Japan

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by freedogger

185 megawatts on the first one, you are joking right?

From the second link:
"As of 2010, questions remain about the final disposal of the plant's nuclear waste, following the scrapping of the planned national depository."

The last one was pretty small too...

you seem to be confused about the average size of a nuclear reactor here, 582 MW is pretty small?? That would be around the mid point for Canadian reactors and the largest reactors in the world only tip in around 1500 with the most common ones around 1000.

I think it's fair to say quite obviously all 3 are examples of fully decommissioned commercial reactors.

[GreatWhiteEbola]

Originally Posted by BerubeHater

Oh, I thought Stephen Hawking's lab partner is his wheelchair.

He has more than one. Wheelchair that is.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by freedogger

. The only way nuclear power exists is because taxpayers subsidize it on so many levels.

hmmm reminds me of solar, wind, hell even hydroelectric. Pretty much all large scale energy projects receive massive government subsidies on many levels. Even half a billion dollars from the American government couldn't save Solyndra.

Do I think the decommissioning costs were under estimated in the past? for sure and I'd go further to suggest there should be some sort of surcharge om nuclear power which goes into a government trust account specifically reserved for decommissioning costs incase the utility goes under and can't pay for the decommissioning.

Anyway, its nice to see at least the Japanese and Germans are waking up to this and out right rejecting it.

It's called a knee jerk reaction...

Number of people killed in the earthquake/tsunami is over 18,000, the number of people killed by radiation exposure from the nuclear incident is 0 and the levels really never got high enough that that number is likely to change. But regardless in comparison, people are concerned about the safety of nuclear power? In what world is this making sense.

Does this not just smack you of a bunch of people proving the saying "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing"?

And Japans solution to this? In a day where global warming is all the rage? Lets burn a crap ton more natural gas.

What's the long term plan here?? Japan is a country with limited potential to generate electricity from either hydroelectric sources, solar or wind power. They aren't producing enough power anymore to get through the high demand months.

I think this summer once the brownouts start to hit and people start to realize how much living through the summer sans air conditioning in that country sucks, the anti nuclear sentiments are going to start to fade.

[photon]

I think everyone would love to see a perfect energy source that doesn't have risks, doesn't impact anything or anyone, and is free. We don't live in that world though. I think everyone would love to see all energy from renewable sources too, but if it was that easy it'd already be well under way.

Germany will be interesting to watch to see if they can actually follow through with what they want and how they do it, but I'm skeptical simply because solar/wind/etc are great, but scaling them up is a serious challenge while existing nuclear is well known, and there are other technologies for nuclear that haven't been explored yet that could mitigate a lot of the risks.

Originally Posted by BerubeHater

Photon, I am curious what your background is with this kind of stuff? It seems you are pretty knowledgable in this area.

I would have thought this story would have been bigger news than it is right now, but might not be because of some of the things you have mentioned.

I don't have any background in this, other than just a general scientific interest. I just read a lot and participate in other forums where there are people in and around the industry who know a lot more about it than me.

News is big events, and "the risk is serious today, just like it was yesterday and the last 365 days" doesn't make for good news.

But finding a guy who works for an organization with a stated agenda that can generate a scary phrase sometimes makes news.

I don't doubt some people have tried to downplay the severity of the situation, just like others try to blow it all out of proportion (one thing I read said that one MOX fuel rod could kill 2.89 billion people.. which is true, if you ground the rod into a fine powder and split the powder into 2.89 billion 80microgram doses and had each person inhale it).

I just try to base my reactions on reason rather than some website that sees a tiny fluctuation in background radiation and decides that means we're all going to die.

[Blaster86]

AND THE CONSPIRACY THEORISTS ARE OFF!

Whooo!

[Pizza]

Originally Posted by BerubeHater

Oh, I thought Stephen Hawking's lab partner is his wheelchair.

Photon is a wheelchair?

[SebC]

Originally Posted by freedogger

Do you really dispute the main point of the article? That nuclear power is too expensive when you consider the full life of it. Why is the government the only entity that can insure these things? The only way nuclear power exists is because taxpayers subsidize it on so many levels.

Anyway, its nice to see at least the Japanese and Germans are waking up to this and out right rejecting it.

This criticism is also valid for your savings account, assuming you don't keep all your money in cash under your mattress.

[freedogger]

Originally Posted by SebC

This criticism is also valid for your savings account, assuming you don't keep all your money in cash under your mattress.

Indeed, it would be nice if they didn't have us to bail them out and had to actually be prudent in their risk management. Instead they double down and go for more with you and me at the ready to prop them back up. We have a system far removed from a capitalist notion of letting the losers be replaced with more competent enterprises.

I'm all for the gov being involved in the initial stages. The ITER fusion research project is a good example.

[BerubeHater]

Originally Posted by photon

I don't have any background in this, other than just a general scientific interest. I just read a lot and participate in other forums where there are people in and around the industry who know a lot more about it than me.

News is big events, and "the risk is serious today, just like it was yesterday and the last 365 days" doesn't make for good news.

But finding a guy who works for an organization with a stated agenda that can generate a scary phrase sometimes makes news.

I don't doubt some people have tried to downplay the severity of the situation, just like others try to blow it all out of proportion (one thing I read said that one MOX fuel rod could kill 2.89 billion people.. which is true, if you ground the rod into a fine powder and split the powder into 2.89 billion 80microgram doses and had each person inhale it).

I just try to base my reactions on reason rather than some website that sees a tiny fluctuation in background radiation and decides that means we're all going to die.

Fair enough. I generally do the same thing, but given my lack of knowledge in nuclear reactors (and probably a lack of knowledge by most people reading about this) I wasn't sure how to gauge the info circulating the web right now.

[photon]

Originally Posted by Pizza

Photon is a wheelchair?

On the Internet no one knows you're a wheelchair.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Dan02

And Japans solution to this? In a day where global warming is all the rage? Lets burn a crap ton more natural gas.

Hey, at least it isn't coal.

[drewboy12]

Maybe we will all turn into Hulks.

[GreatWhiteEbola]

Originally Posted by photon

On the Internet no one knows you're a wheelchair.

Unless you make it obvious with a giant avatar and tell everyone with every opportunity you get, like this opportunity right now...I am in a wheelchair!

Germane to the thread, governments are a resource for the populous, it is only fitting that they provide the insurance for instances such as this. No one else has everyone's interests in mind. (ideally that is)

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by GreatWhiteEbola

Unless you make it obvious with a giant avatar and tell everyone with every opportunity you get, like this opportunity right now...I am in a wheelchair!

I see what you did here.

[Zevo]

Originally Posted by Puppet Guy

can we get Godzilla and his monster pals to save us?

This is how Godzilla and his monster pals are created...