Bush energy policy

[charrison]

Originally posted by: daniel49

Originally posted by: Amplifier
They finally get that Nuclear is a great source for power? Or did they always know that and just didn't want to hurt the poor fossil fuel business 🙂.

so you have no concerns over producing nuclear power is that your opinion? The technology is safer then moms apple pie and we know what to do with radioactive elements that have half lifes of ten thousand years...comon some serious discussion or will move to highly technical:laugh: jk

Most of the radioactive waste has significantly cooled after about 50 years. Remember the more radioactive the waste, the shorter the 1/2 life.

 

[dmcowen674]

I actually agree with something Bush has said :shocked:

It hasn't happened yet and maybe never will but the idea of turning the old unused bases into Refineries :thumbsup:

Some bases also would be good locations for Nuclear Power Generation expansion.

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: SuperTool
I think the main problem with nuclear is necessity of nearby body of water for cooling. Areas surrounding bodies of water are generally highly populated, so NIMBY arguements pop up.

Do a search for "dry cask" storage. It seems that problem has been overcome as well.

 

[daniel49]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
I actually agree with something Bush has said :shocked:

It hasn't happened yet and maybe never will but the idea of turning the old unused bases into Refineries :thumbsup:

Some bases also would be good locations for Nuclear Power Generation expansion.

I suspect the communities that lost those bases may be open to the idea for more jobs?


Diasper: read the article was very interesting thank you.
You can easily see one of chinas advantages is that they don't worry about domestic political fall out/ enviromentalists, etc... they just do it.
ie....lets turn it off and see if it cools down.

 

[Diasper]

Originally posted by: daniel49

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
I actually agree with something Bush has said :shocked:

It hasn't happened yet and maybe never will but the idea of turning the old unused bases into Refineries :thumbsup:

Some bases also would be good locations for Nuclear Power Generation expansion.

I suspect the communities that lost those bases may be open to the idea for more jobs?


Diasper: read the article was very interesting thank you.
You can easily see one of chinas advantages is that they don't worry about domestic political fall out/ enviromentalists, etc... they just do it.
ie....lets turn it off and see if it cools down.

hehe. Somewhat true. Well, at least this time it appears they did the correct calculations beforehand 🙂

Well I suppose the main reason is China has the drive to do so - their ideology is industrialization and economic advancement as fast as possible which means that their politique isn't answerable to anyone or any bottom line. Of course, they otherwise benefit from not having such super-powerful oil corporations influencing government.

Anyway, would this count as one of the first real Chinese contributions to modern world technology? (Or did the South Africans get there first?) Either way I really hope, the technology gets rapidily developed and implemented. I've been waiting new news on this for a while - has anything else recently been put out about its progression and a more accurate analysis of its future prospects?

 

[Infohawk]

Nuclear is the way to go. Just make sure the price of nuclear power integrates the cost of putting the nuclear waste in a deep hole.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: SuperTool
I am all for Nuclear. We can store the nuclear waste in Crawford, TX😉

Fixed. 😛

 

[rahvin]

Originally posted by: Diasper
Actually, there is a strong potential for safe nuclear energy. China have been rather pioneering with nuclear technology and developed the idea that instead of using hot water and fuel rods, they'd use masses of billiard sized balls with flecks of uranium while the core is immersed in uranium.

China developed pebble bed reactors? Lay off the dope or actually know what you are talking about before you write a page and half on it. Hell I read that far and stopped, nothing I hate more than saying some nation developed a technology when they have done almost no fundemental research in it.

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/P/Pe/Pebble_bed_reactor.htm

The concept was invented by Professor Dr. Rudolf Schulten in the 1950s.

A 15 megawatt (electric) demonstration reactor (the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Versuchsreaktor, or AVR) was built at the nuclear research center Kernforschungszentrum in Jülich, Germany. Its goal was to gain operational experience with a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor. Its first criticality was August 26, 1966. It ran successfully for 21 years, and was decommissioned on December 1, 1988.

China has licensed the technology of the AVR, and is actively developing a pebble-bed modular reactor for power generation. The prototype is called the HTR-10, a 10 megawatt prototype. It is a conventional helium-cooled, helium-turbine design. The program is at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

 

[Diasper]

Originally posted by: rahvin

Originally posted by: Diasper
Actually, there is a strong potential for safe nuclear energy. China have been rather pioneering with nuclear technology and developed the idea that instead of using hot water and fuel rods, they'd use masses of billiard sized balls with flecks of uranium while the core is immersed in uranium.

China developed pebble bed reactors? Lay off the dope or actually know what you are talking about before you write a page and half on it. Hell I read that far and stopped, nothing I hate more than saying some nation developed a technology when they have done almost no fundemental research in it.

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/P/Pe/Pebble_bed_reactor.htm

The concept was invented by Professor Dr. Rudolf Schulten in the 1950s.

A 15 megawatt (electric) demonstration reactor (the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Versuchsreaktor, or AVR) was built at the nuclear research center Kernforschungszentrum in Jülich, Germany. Its goal was to gain operational experience with a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor. Its first criticality was August 26, 1966. It ran successfully for 21 years, and was decommissioned on December 1, 1988.

China has licensed the technology of the AVR, and is actively developing a pebble-bed modular reactor for power generation. The prototype is called the HTR-10, a 10 megawatt prototype. It is a conventional helium-cooled, helium-turbine design. The program is at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Wow, thank you for posting those links but go get some anger management. I'm happy to say, pioneering was the wrong word, but writing quickly as many people do when pressed for time, you can excuse the wrong wording and give a bit of latitude. For the sake of your blood pressure, I'll correct it. As for the correct wording, now prime developer and pusher of it would have been a better word, given the nature of when the Chinese Communist Party when it gets behind a project. The word pioneering of course could be used if they do successful implement it on the scale they seem to be aiming as it will be a truely impressive accomplishment of merging mass production and energy technologies on an unprecedented scale. That is pioneering.

 

[judasmachine]

I think we need to (somewhat) fend for ourselves a bit too. Put solar panels on your house, yes it's enough to run your server, 4 pcs, fridge, lights, and TV. It's expensive to start up but being able to collect small checks from the power company instead of bills: Priceless. 😉

 

[Malfeas]

The only other problem is that nuclear energy has has its own hubbert's peak as such - i think estimates were 2085 although I think that might be at current rate of use and not assuming a massive explosion of nuclear reactors.

This is the advantage of a breeder reactor, it makes it's own fuel. I was not aware of the pebble bed type reactor, I admit my knowledge of reactor types is limited by what I learned in the Navy, but cursory review of the posted link it seems it is a viable alternative to large old-fashioned nuclear power plants. Maybe a combination of breeder reactors to make fuel and a pebble-bed reactors to generate power would significantly lengthen the worlds power reserves until or if fusion reactors are viable.

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: Malfeas

The only other problem is that nuclear energy has has its own hubbert's peak as such - i think estimates were 2085 although I think that might be at current rate of use and not assuming a massive explosion of nuclear reactors.

This is the advantage of a breeder reactor, it makes it's own fuel. I was not aware of the pebble bed type reactor, I admit my knowledge of reactor types is limited by what I learned in the Navy, but cursory review of the posted link it seems it is a viable alternative to large old-fashioned nuclear power plants. Maybe a combination of breeder reactors to make fuel and a pebble-bed reactors to generate power would significantly lengthen the worlds power reserves until or if fusion reactors are viable.

In addition, the US and Russia are sitting on virtual mountains of highly enriched Uranium and Plutonium left over from the nuclear weapons programs that could be turned into 10-15 times as much reactor fuel.

 

[0marTheZealot]

Nuclear energy can reduce our dependance on coal and natural gas, not oil.

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: 0marTheZealot
Nuclear energy can reduce our dependance on coal and natural gas, not oil.

Nuclear power can be used to produce hydrogen as an energy carrier.

 

[1EZduzit]

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: daniel49

Originally posted by: K1052
Hanford is a disaster, however that is all byproduct from the nuclear weapons progam not the commercial nuclear industry. The waste can be safely stored long term if done correctly.

The only way to greatly reduce our reliance on fossil fuels in the relatively near future is nuclear power.

yes, that is correct about the hanford waste what is the present solution for commercial do you know and is there a downside to it as well.
contamination of storage facilities, earthquakes,seeping into ground water????
would love to learn some new facts if you have them as that is my major concern

Find a geologically stable site and plan accordingly. If you think water infiltration might be a problem down the road than build in passive drainage systems to siphon off the water before it gets into the repository. Build waterproof casks that will last long enough for the raidoactivity to decay to relatively safe levels.

There are solutions.

Bury it in the Iraqi desert along with all those WMD's. :laugh:

 

[piasabird]

What is so great about nuclear power? No one wants the spent nuclear material stored anywhere in there state.

Make power from steam using methane from the landfills to heat it up!

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: piasabird
What is so great about nuclear power? No one wants the spent nuclear material stored anywhere in there state.

Make power from steam using methane from the landfills to heat it up!

Safe, cheap (per kwh), reliable, clean, etc...

Waste gas from landfills comes nowhere near close enough to satisfy our power requirements.