Japan aims to abandon nuclear power by 2030s

[werepossum]

according to Michu Kaku a rather famous scientist who speculates about the future
in about 10 years Solar power and other forms of renewable power may very well become as economically feasible as fossil fuels within ten years.

He also talks about Hubbert's Peak


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvsFWUo2iIw

He could be wrong though... However, maybe that is why they set the goal out by about 27 years to see if existing power technologies are improved or if new ones are developed.

This guy is to me the modern equivalent of Carl Sagan. Only Carl Sagan became a bit more famous because Americans back in those hallowed times weren't so distracted by things like Honey Boo Boo

Michio Kaku is a freakin' genius; Carl Sagan merely played one on TV. LOL

Japan certainly needs to move away from its current nuclear technology. It's possible that technologies like solar, geothermal, and wave can within thirty years fulfill their energy needs if supplemented with natural gas and stringent efficiency enforcement. Hopefully they will make some advances from which we too will benefit. Worst case, Japan can adopt one of the intrinsically safer nuclear designs. And Lord knows, anything would be safer than a big pile of spent fuel rods protected by Sheetrock.

 

[DucatiMonster696]

Quoted for hilarity.

The hoover damn probably has negligible impact of a single nuclear accident, and you always have the option of tearing a damn down. You can't just "unspill" radioactive waste.

You're statement is not taking into account all the other toxic waste spilled into the environment when entire towns and their contents were damaged, spilled, dumped, exposed, etc into the natural environment when the wave struck. In case you didn't know there is a giant mass of debris floating in Pacific that is made up of "stuff" swept away from the shoreline area of Japan which was struck by the tsunami wave.

 

[DCal430]

It's hundreds of billions of yen, not dollars. In dollars it's in the 10-20 billion range. And nuclear power is still cost effective despite clean up costs because the fuel is practically free compared to coal, oil, or natural gas. It's like having 100 hoover dams wherever you want them but without the massive environmental impact.

It is hundreds of billions of dollars. They already spent tens of billions of dollars. It isn't Yen, it is dollars. I already posted the study for you to see.

The cost is in the trillions of yen.

 

[DCal430]

http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/89987.php

http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=1919

http://www.jcer.or.jp/eng/research/pdf/pe(kobayashi20110719)e.pdf

 

[DCal430]

Remember something around the scale of Fukushima should happen every 10 years or so. So things will get worst and worst.

 

[bfdd]

Japan going off nuclear is a pie in the sky dream. It will lead to nothing, but putting them in a tough position of importing resources, which will lead to regional conflicts over their expansion for resources. Japan ALREADY imports about 50% of their energy needs, you think killing off their nuclear is a good idea? Please....

 

[Agent11]

The Bonneville dam on the Columbia would be a better analogy most likely. It really wiped out the salmon spawning grounds.

As for the waste, why not build a massive railgun and shoot it into the sun eh?

 

[bfdd]

The Bonneville dam on the Columbia would be a better analogy most likely. It really wiped out the salmon spawning grounds.

As for the waste, why not build a massive railgun and shoot it into the sun eh?

Or you know... find a way to use it for something else? People are so ready to just give up now a days when shit gets "hard" it's really sad. How the fuck did our DNA make it so far along without any help? Maybe this is an indication of a higher being? lol jk

 

[SparkyJJO]

Thorium.

 

[monovillage]

Here's some interesting links.
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com...itigated-disaster-or-just-plain-embarrassing/

The province pays $135 per megawatt of wind energy, as mandated by the Green Energy Act. The market price of electricity at 6 p.m. on Monday: $16.50 per MW.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/...ower-chaos-should-be-a-warning-to-the-UK.html

The more a country depends on such sources of energy, the more there will arise – as Germany is discovering – two massive technical problems. One is that it becomes incredibly difficult to maintain a consistent supply of power to the grid, when that wildly fluctuating renewable output has to be balanced by input from conventional power stations. The other is that, to keep that back-up constantly available can require fossil-fuel power plants to run much of the time very inefficiently and expensively

Interesting because you can't run a grid on renewable energy and when you use renewable energy you pay HUGE costs for that energy.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Japan going off nuclear is a pie in the sky dream. It will lead to nothing, but putting them in a tough position of importing resources, which will lead to regional conflicts over their expansion for resources. Japan ALREADY imports about 50% of their energy needs, you think killing off their nuclear is a good idea? Please....

By Japan's logic, all cars should be banned because old cars were unsafe so we should go back to horses, instead of using much safer new cars.

The huge lead they once had over of Asia since Meiji has now been squandered away while China is rising on all fronts. Now they are even losing their minds. Really, they think they are only one who is capable of developing and utilizing green energy in the region?

 

[AnitaPeterson]

And so, the sun will finally set on the Empire of the Rising Sun....

 

[spacejamz]

Remember something around the scale of Fukushima should happen every 10 years or so. So things will get worst and worst.

Not sure if serious???

 

[Steeplerot]

Not sure if serious???

It does sound alarmist. And hopefully it is totally wrong.

But let's be honest, the question is not will we Fuku a US state at some point.

It's which state will be the first one to sacrifice its economy and the homes of it's residents for this failed old 20th century tech.

None of those plants are getting any younger and the industry is in full denial mode to cover their ass.

A terrible combination when the stakes are so high.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Japan going off nuclear is a pie in the sky dream. It will lead to nothing, but putting them in a tough position of importing resources, which will lead to regional conflicts over their expansion for resources. Japan ALREADY imports about 50% of their energy needs, you think killing off their nuclear is a good idea? Please....

Japan started it's expansion of SE Asia back in the 1930's as a result of needing control of natural resources.

This time she will have to pay vs control.

Money going elsewhere is money not invested at home.

 

[Steeplerot]

Japan has plenty of energy available in hydrothermal/solar/tidal and lots of geothermal etc.

As do we, Nuke power is only a small fraction of power generated, you all that think shutting them down would cause us to go back to the stone age are pretty silly.

And folks who are being rational about the serious problems of nuke power are the alarmist ones?

What a joke, use your heads folks.

Once again the biggest apologists for capitalism have 0% faith in their own religion.

 

[K1052]

As do we, Nuke power is only a small fraction of power generated, you all that think shutting them down would cause us to go back to the stone age are pretty silly.

Nuclear accounts for more than 20% of US electrical generation. Moreover they are base load plants with the highest capacity factor of any other source.

It is not easily replaced by renewables so we'll end up like the Germans, burning a shitload more coal out of plants that should have been shut down decades ago due to lack of pollution controls.

 

[bfdd]

Nuclear accounts for more than 20% of US electrical generation. Moreover they are base load plants with the highest capacity factor of any other source.

It is not easily replaced by renewables so we'll end up like the Germans, burning a shitload more coal out of plants that should have been shut down decades ago due to lack of pollution controls.

This. I'm not a fan of nuclear disasters either, but I honestly view them as hiccups in a rather well functioning industry. Modern designs and safety features will go a long way. We need to open back up the industry a bit and encourage them to replace/renovate older reactors here in the USA(and around the world).

 

[Steeplerot]

It is not easily replaced by renewables so we'll end up like the Germans, burning a shitload more coal out of plants that should have been shut down decades ago due to lack of pollution controls.

Yep, we cant fix it, cuz its too broke. So keep supporting the failed status quo.

It is amazing we are not still in horse and buggies with this mindset.

 

[K1052]

Yep, we cant fix it, cuz its too broke. So keep supporting the failed status quo.

It is amazing we are not still in horse and buggies with this mindset.

My preference is to displace fossil fuels with renewable energy. You want horse and buggy...shoveling coal into a big furnace is about as archaic as you can get these days.

 

[Fern]

Hmmm...

I wonder what affect this goal to emigrate from nuclear power will have on their foreign relations.

Specifically, I'm thinking of their need for natural resources, such as oil or NG to use for power generation.

E.g., will this need affect how Japan reacts to the current tension with China over the dispute regarding those uninhabited islands: the ones with oil deposits?

Fern

 

[bfdd]

Hmmm...

I wonder what affect this goal to emigrate from nuclear power will have on their foreign relations.

Specifically, I'm thinking of their need for natural resources, such as oil or NG to use for power generation.

E.g., will this need affect how Japan reacts to the current tension with China over the dispute regarding those uninhabited islands: the ones with oil deposits?

Fern

This is what I have been saying the whole time. You think the Daiyo islands are a big deal now? Wait until Japan has an even larger demand for resources and starts causing conflicts in the region.

 

[Printer Bandit]

will tesla's tech be declassified by then?

 

[Steeplerot]

We already got the thorium "savior" pseudo science nonsense, now with the Tesla. Personally I want one of those Mr. Fusion you can pee into like in the back to the future delorean.

I swear this was a techie forum full of engineers and scientists. Guess I took a wrong turn at Albuquerque.

Speaking of Tesla, I hear they are actually building a museum for his lab finally. Pretty awesome.

 

[werepossum]

We already got the thorium "savior" pseudo science nonsense, now with the Tesla. Personally I want one of those Mr. Fusion you can pee into like in the back to the future delorean.

I swear this was a techie forum full of engineers and scientists. Guess I took a wrong turn at Albuquerque.

Speaking of Tesla, I hear they are actually building a museum for his lab finally. Pretty awesome.

Nope, Japan has a made a huge purchase from Obamatech and plans to satisfy its energy needs with proper tire inflation.