McCain calls for 45 new Nuclear Reactors

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Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
20
81
Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Nuclear power is fueled by nuclear engineers, egg heads who have little empathy or social skills, emotionally and intuitively vacuous individuals who are afraid to feel. These 'mad scientist' types are obvious to ordinary people. Let them walk among those who live where they want to build their nuclear plants so ordinary people can beat them to death.
:laugh:
You sound like a stereotype out of South Park.

"Miiisssster Scientist!"

Wow. :laugh:

Do you believe that all Looney Tunes cartoons provide an accurate portrayal when they show scientists as unfeeling "mad scientists?"
Or hell, movies and TV love to vilify scientists in this fashion. It's a damn cheap shot for the writers. It's become ingrained into the public's minds, just like irrational fears of radiation. Oh teh noes!!!! Radioactive material is nearby! It's going to kill me!!!!
Oh wait, you're probably in more danger of getting cancer from your smoke alarm. Oops.

Listen to Carl Sagan sometime if you want to hear the compassion of a scientist.


 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
74,737
6,760
126
Originally posted by: KurskKnyaz
Originally posted by: Moonbeam
"Why not? Some states have the environment that can contain nuclear waste. They can be paid to store it. The only reason they wouldn't want it is because the majority of people are disillusioned with this kind of nonsense:"

Ah yes, the bribe the drunken Indians approach. Buy them to eat your waste. You are a moral swine.

Eat the waste? I though it would be stored in a huge mountain in the middle of nowhere.

How long did it take you to Google that? You take up a position and then search for evidence to support it. I'm sure you can find problems with nuclear waste disposal. I'm not arguing that they don't exist. I'm saying thats its cleaner and safer then coal. Nothing is 100% safe. I can Google a ton of articles to reinforce that, but what is the point? You will just Google more that support your point of view. Did you even read this article? here are some excerpts:


Many polls have been taken of French public opinion and most find that about two-thirds of the population are strongly in favor of nuclear power.

For example, while French citizens cannot control nuclear technology anymore than Americans, the fact that they trust the technocrats that do control it makes them feel more secure. Then there is need. Most French people know that life would be very difficult without nuclear energy. Because they need nuclear power more than us, they fear it less.

"I would be much more frightened living next to a dam [France has about 12% hydroelectric power] or getting into her car in the morning." Others like bar owner Alain Cauvin cite "mad cow disease as being much scarier than nuclear power.

From the beginning the French had been recycling their nuclear waste, reclaiming the plutonium and unused uranium and fabricating new fuel elements. This not only gave energy, it reduced the volume and longevity of French radioactive waste. The volume of the ultimate high-level waste was indeed very small: the contribution of a family of four using electricity for 20 years is a glass cylinder the size of a cigarette lighter.

Waste should not be buried permanently but rather stocked in a way that made it accessible at some time in the future. People felt much happier with the idea of a "stocking center" than a "nuclear graveyard". Was this just a semantic difference? No, says Bataille. Stocking waste and watching it involves a commitment to the future. It implies that the waste will not be forgotten. It implies that the authorities will continue to be responsible. And, says Bataille, it offers some possibility of future advances. "Today we stock containers of waste because currently scientists don't know how to reduce or eliminate the toxicity, but maybe in 100 years perhaps scientists will."

I'm not moral swine but your logic is infantile and your debating techniques are Aimster-ish.

Are YOU pretending this is logical? Who the hell is Aimster and what is Amisterish and you are a big fat baby. I win.

The logic you can't seem to get through your big fat head is that the problem of nuclear waste is always solved tomorrow and never today. Everybody loves the promise and nobody will allow any solution that has anything to do with storing any waste around them. You can't seem to comprehend the fact that people are insane and fear anything invisible. Nobody gives a shit about technical realities.
 

KurskKnyaz

Senior member
Dec 1, 2003
880
1
81
Originally posted by: seemingly random
Originally posted by: KurskKnyaz
Originally posted by: Moonbeam
"Why not? Some states have the environment that can contain nuclear waste. They can be paid to store it. The only reason they wouldn't want it is because the majority of people are disillusioned with this kind of nonsense:"

Ah yes, the bribe the drunken Indians approach. Buy them to eat your waste. You are a moral swine.

Eat the waste? I though it would be stored in a huge mountain in the middle of nowhere.

How long did it take you to Google that? You take up a position and then search for evidence to support it. I'm sure you can find problems with nuclear waste disposal. I'm not arguing that they don't exist. I'm saying thats its cleaner and safer then coal. Nothing is 100% safe. I can Google a ton of articles to reinforce that, but what is the point? You will just Google more that support your point of view. Did you even read this article? here are some excerpts:


Many polls have been taken of French public opinion and most find that about two-thirds of the population are strongly in favor of nuclear power.

For example, while French citizens cannot control nuclear technology anymore than Americans, the fact that they trust the technocrats that do control it makes them feel more secure. Then there is need. Most French people know that life would be very difficult without nuclear energy. Because they need nuclear power more than us, they fear it less.

"I would be much more frightened living next to a dam [France has about 12% hydroelectric power] or getting into her car in the morning." Others like bar owner Alain Cauvin cite "mad cow disease as being much scarier than nuclear power.

From the beginning the French had been recycling their nuclear waste, reclaiming the plutonium and unused uranium and fabricating new fuel elements. This not only gave energy, it reduced the volume and longevity of French radioactive waste. The volume of the ultimate high-level waste was indeed very small: the contribution of a family of four using electricity for 20 years is a glass cylinder the size of a cigarette lighter.

Waste should not be buried permanently but rather stocked in a way that made it accessible at some time in the future. People felt much happier with the idea of a "stocking center" than a "nuclear graveyard". Was this just a semantic difference? No, says Bataille. Stocking waste and watching it involves a commitment to the future. It implies that the waste will not be forgotten. It implies that the authorities will continue to be responsible. And, says Bataille, it offers some possibility of future advances. "Today we stock containers of waste because currently scientists don't know how to reduce or eliminate the toxicity, but maybe in 100 years perhaps scientists will."

I'm not moral swine but your logic is infantile and your debating techniques are Aimster-ish.
Them thar's fighten words - or else a compliment. I'm not really sure.

Fighting words. Moonbeam set up a nice straw man when he called me "moral swine" because I'm for the safe storage of nuclear waste in states that have enormous uninhabited space. The article he posted actually agrees with my point of view. Too bad he never read it.
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
74,737
6,760
126
Originally posted by: KurskKnyaz
Originally posted by: seemingly random
Originally posted by: KurskKnyaz
Originally posted by: Moonbeam
"Why not? Some states have the environment that can contain nuclear waste. They can be paid to store it. The only reason they wouldn't want it is because the majority of people are disillusioned with this kind of nonsense:"

Ah yes, the bribe the drunken Indians approach. Buy them to eat your waste. You are a moral swine.

Eat the waste? I though it would be stored in a huge mountain in the middle of nowhere.

How long did it take you to Google that? You take up a position and then search for evidence to support it. I'm sure you can find problems with nuclear waste disposal. I'm not arguing that they don't exist. I'm saying thats its cleaner and safer then coal. Nothing is 100% safe. I can Google a ton of articles to reinforce that, but what is the point? You will just Google more that support your point of view. Did you even read this article? here are some excerpts:


Many polls have been taken of French public opinion and most find that about two-thirds of the population are strongly in favor of nuclear power.

For example, while French citizens cannot control nuclear technology anymore than Americans, the fact that they trust the technocrats that do control it makes them feel more secure. Then there is need. Most French people know that life would be very difficult without nuclear energy. Because they need nuclear power more than us, they fear it less.

"I would be much more frightened living next to a dam [France has about 12% hydroelectric power] or getting into her car in the morning." Others like bar owner Alain Cauvin cite "mad cow disease as being much scarier than nuclear power.

From the beginning the French had been recycling their nuclear waste, reclaiming the plutonium and unused uranium and fabricating new fuel elements. This not only gave energy, it reduced the volume and longevity of French radioactive waste. The volume of the ultimate high-level waste was indeed very small: the contribution of a family of four using electricity for 20 years is a glass cylinder the size of a cigarette lighter.

Waste should not be buried permanently but rather stocked in a way that made it accessible at some time in the future. People felt much happier with the idea of a "stocking center" than a "nuclear graveyard". Was this just a semantic difference? No, says Bataille. Stocking waste and watching it involves a commitment to the future. It implies that the waste will not be forgotten. It implies that the authorities will continue to be responsible. And, says Bataille, it offers some possibility of future advances. "Today we stock containers of waste because currently scientists don't know how to reduce or eliminate the toxicity, but maybe in 100 years perhaps scientists will."

I'm not moral swine but your logic is infantile and your debating techniques are Aimster-ish.
Them thar's fighten words - or else a compliment. I'm not really sure.

Fighting words. Moonbeam set up a nice straw man when he called me "moral swine" because I'm for the safe storage of nuclear waste in states that have enormous uninhabited space. The article he posted actually agrees with my point of view. Too bad he never read it.

I read the article and linked it without editing so as not to present only one side of the story. You did read that the problem of N waste has never been solved anywhere, right. That big empty space is Nevada and the people of Nevada don't want it there. But if you get enough power you can shove it down their throat. Why not cover the desert with solar cells. The sun can turn turbines as easily as nuclear fuel and there's no radioactivity or CO2.

Note again how the solutions are always in the future. Tomorrow I clean up says the pig. Sure you will, piggy.
 

seemingly random

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 2007
5,277
0
0
Originally posted by: KurskKnyaz
Originally posted by: seemingly random
Originally posted by: jman19
Originally posted by: Harvey
HELL NO! WE WON'T GLOW!

Fuck McSame yet again.

Yes, because nuclear power plants are just so dangerous... :confused:
Many probably don't remember three mile island but hopefully have heard or read about it. Maybe a statistical blip but, never the less, shows they can be very dangerous. I think, if you had lived near there with your kids, you might have a different outlook.

The three-mile island accident was the worst accident after Chernobyl. It killed no one and exposed 6 people to the equivalent of a chest x-ray. Do you know how many coal miners die of black-lung disease every year? Once you do the math you will see which is safer.
I didn't realize there are only these two choices.

And of course the worst yet - chernobyl. I don't think this was just a video game. It was real and people died and some that wished they had and there is desolation for miles around it. The nuclear cloud blew around the world but for some reason didn't get much airplay. Nuclear information handlers must have been very busy with that one.

That was a shitty reactor run by a shitty government. Those standards would never be allowed in the developed world.
:sigh;

As pointed out in an earlier post, this was not to suggest that nuclear power plants elsewhere in the world are operated as haphazardly. It was in response to another post which tried to laugh off the notion that nuclear power is dangerous. It is dangerous, very dangerous but not unmanageable. The enormous conatinment structures built around reactors is an acknowledgment of the danger.

Trucks and cars are dangerous, right? To not agree with this is folly. I don't think they should be eliminated though. The cumulative effect of the emitted pollutants is dangerous. There have been efforts to ameliorate this through catalytic converters, more efficient induction systems, etc. It seems to be a natural process of correction and improvement that all products go through to various degrees. I don't understand why the nuclear power industry thinks it can be exempt from this. The arrogance is almost wrung out...
 

seemingly random

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 2007
5,277
0
0
Originally posted by: KurskKnyaz
Originally posted by: seemingly random
...
I'm not moral swine but your logic is infantile and your debating techniques are Aimster-ish.
Them thar's fighten words - or else a compliment. I'm not really sure.

Fighting words. Moonbeam set up a nice straw man when he called me "moral swine" because I'm for the safe storage of nuclear waste in states that have enormous uninhabited space. The article he posted actually agrees with my point of view. Too bad he never read it.
:laugh:
Sorry, I hadn't yet read what you two were arguing about. The fact that another member's name is now used as a form of argument seemed humorous.
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
74,737
6,760
126
Originally posted by: seemingly random
Originally posted by: KurskKnyaz
Originally posted by: seemingly random
...
I'm not moral swine but your logic is infantile and your debating techniques are Aimster-ish.
Them thar's fighten words - or else a compliment. I'm not really sure.

Fighting words. Moonbeam set up a nice straw man when he called me "moral swine" because I'm for the safe storage of nuclear waste in states that have enormous uninhabited space. The article he posted actually agrees with my point of view. Too bad he never read it.
:laugh:
Sorry, I hadn't yet read what you two were arguing about. The fact that another member's name is now used as a form of argument seemed humorous.

I can't see Aimster laughing about being identified with me. ;)
 

seemingly random

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 2007
5,277
0
0
Originally posted by: Jeff7
...
Listen to Carl Sagan sometime if you want to hear the compassion of a scientist.
Yes, he is missed. Someone who seemed to not let the oppression of the politicians, big business, fundies, etc get him down. One in a billliiion.
 

BoberFett

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
37,562
9
81
Originally posted by: KurskKnyaz
Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Solar, not coal or nuclear.

We need neighborhoods to bid on nuclear. Let the people ask the government to build a nuclear plant in their neighborhood. We'll build millions that way.

The waste we have already made has never been stored properly. Lots of containers are leaking all over the place. Nobody will ever clean up the mess because there's no money to do it with. The real cost of nuclear is always passed to future generations with by lies.

Do you have any evidence of this?

People will welcome solar and fight nuclear to death.

Solar power is too immature. We don't have an efficient way to store solar energy.

Not to mention, what is the environmental cost of building all those solar panels with their heavy metals and hazardous chemicals, and the constant maintenance and replacement of those panels? Just because the sunlight they use is environmentally friendly doesn't mean the panels are.
 

Tab

Lifer
Sep 15, 2002
12,145
0
76
Originally posted by: BoberFett
Originally posted by: KurskKnyaz
Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Solar, not coal or nuclear.

We need neighborhoods to bid on nuclear. Let the people ask the government to build a nuclear plant in their neighborhood. We'll build millions that way.

The waste we have already made has never been stored properly. Lots of containers are leaking all over the place. Nobody will ever clean up the mess because there's no money to do it with. The real cost of nuclear is always passed to future generations with by lies.

Do you have any evidence of this?

People will welcome solar and fight nuclear to death.

Solar power is too immature. We don't have an efficient way to store solar energy.

Not to mention, what is the environmental cost of building all those solar panels with their heavy metals and hazardous chemicals, and the constant maintenance and replacement of those panels? Just because the sunlight they use is environmentally friendly doesn't mean the panels are.

Ditto. I've heard this many times before... Exact same situation with the Prius, fuel-efficient car but the batteries are made out of some nasty stuff...
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
74,737
6,760
126
Have a look here.
Originally posted by: Tab
Originally posted by: BoberFett
Originally posted by: KurskKnyaz
Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Solar, not coal or nuclear.

We need neighborhoods to bid on nuclear. Let the people ask the government to build a nuclear plant in their neighborhood. We'll build millions that way.

The waste we have already made has never been stored properly. Lots of containers are leaking all over the place. Nobody will ever clean up the mess because there's no money to do it with. The real cost of nuclear is always passed to future generations with by lies.

Do you have any evidence of this?

People will welcome solar and fight nuclear to death.

Solar power is too immature. We don't have an efficient way to store solar energy.

Not to mention, what is the environmental cost of building all those solar panels with their heavy metals and hazardous chemicals, and the constant maintenance and replacement of those panels? Just because the sunlight they use is environmentally friendly doesn't mean the panels are.

Ditto. I've heard this many times before... Exact same situation with the Prius, fuel-efficient car but the batteries are made out of some nasty stuff...

Take a look at this
 

KurskKnyaz

Senior member
Dec 1, 2003
880
1
81
Originally posted by: Moonbeam

I read the article and linked it without editing so as not to present only one side of the story. You did read that the problem of N waste has never been solved anywhere, right.

I know it hasn't. Neither have the problems that arise from burning fossil fuels. Whats your point? My point is that nuclear energy is the cleanest, safest, and most efficient form of energy we have to date.

That big empty space is Nevada and the people of Nevada don't want it there. But if you get enough power you can shove it down their throat. Why not cover the desert with solar cells. The sun can turn turbines as easily as nuclear fuel and there's no radioactivity or CO2.

As I've said a hundred time and so have other forum members: solar energy is too immature for clean and efficient use.

The people in Nevada don't want it because this country has failed in science education. They don't even want it transported because they think if a terrorist attack waste they will have a Hiroshima on their hands. As the article points out, engineers are highly regarded in France and are trusted as they should be. Europeans are very well educated when it comes to science while Americans watch too much science fiction - that is the difference.

Note again how the solutions are always in the future. Tomorrow I clean up says the pig. Sure you will, piggy.

Again, you never provided any evidence of widespread nuclear contamination.

 

KurskKnyaz

Senior member
Dec 1, 2003
880
1
81
Originally posted by: seemingly random
Originally posted by: KurskKnyaz
Originally posted by: seemingly random
Originally posted by: jman19
Originally posted by: Harvey
HELL NO! WE WON'T GLOW!

Fuck McSame yet again.

Yes, because nuclear power plants are just so dangerous... :confused:
Many probably don't remember three mile island but hopefully have heard or read about it. Maybe a statistical blip but, never the less, shows they can be very dangerous. I think, if you had lived near there with your kids, you might have a different outlook.

The three-mile island accident was the worst accident after Chernobyl. It killed no one and exposed 6 people to the equivalent of a chest x-ray. Do you know how many coal miners die of black-lung disease every year? Once you do the math you will see which is safer.
I didn't realize there are only these two choices.

And of course the worst yet - chernobyl. I don't think this was just a video game. It was real and people died and some that wished they had and there is desolation for miles around it. The nuclear cloud blew around the world but for some reason didn't get much airplay. Nuclear information handlers must have been very busy with that one.

That was a shitty reactor run by a shitty government. Those standards would never be allowed in the developed world.
:sigh;

As pointed out in an earlier post, this was not to suggest that nuclear power plants elsewhere in the world are operated as haphazardly. It was in response to another post which tried to laugh off the notion that nuclear power is dangerous. It is dangerous, very dangerous but not unmanageable. The enormous conatinment structures built around reactors is an acknowledgment of the danger.

Trucks and cars are dangerous, right? To not agree with this is folly. I don't think they should be eliminated though. The cumulative effect of the emitted pollutants is dangerous. There have been efforts to ameliorate this through catalytic converters, more efficient induction systems, etc. It seems to be a natural process of correction and improvement that all products go through to various degrees. I don't understand why the nuclear power industry thinks it can be exempt from this. The arrogance is almost wrung out...

There are more than two choices, nuclear power is just the best choice right now. The nuclear power industry has never been exempt from any environmental standards, which is why it is very safe a clean today.
 

gsaldivar

Diamond Member
Apr 30, 2001
8,691
1
81
Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Originally posted by: gsaldivar

lol :D

Your Greenpeace "evidence" is insta-fail.

The same info is all over the web in news sites about French and German nuclear protests. And when an idiot like you says something it's "instant fail". What a pathetic logical argument you present.

So your "evidence" is that a protest took place? Yes... that's insta-fail.
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
74,737
6,760
126
Originally posted by: KurskKnyaz
Originally posted by: Moonbeam

I read the article and linked it without editing so as not to present only one side of the story. You did read that the problem of N waste has never been solved anywhere, right.

I know it hasn't. Neither have the problems that arise from burning fossil fuels. Whats your point? My point is that nuclear energy is the cleanest, safest, and most efficient form of energy we have to date.

That big empty space is Nevada and the people of Nevada don't want it there. But if you get enough power you can shove it down their throat. Why not cover the desert with solar cells. The sun can turn turbines as easily as nuclear fuel and there's no radioactivity or CO2.

As I've said a hundred time and so have other forum members: solar energy is too immature for clean and efficient use.

The people in Nevada don't want it because this country has failed in science education. They don't even want it transported because they think if a terrorist attack waste they will have a Hiroshima on their hands. As the article points out, engineers are highly regarded in France and are trusted as they should be. Europeans are very well educated when it comes to science while Americans watch too much science fiction - that is the difference.

Note again how the solutions are always in the future. Tomorrow I clean up says the pig. Sure you will, piggy.

Again, you never provided any evidence of widespread nuclear contamination.

My point is that both coal and nuclear are the wrong direction. Solar in the way to go. Immature in not an issue. We need a Saturn rocket type effort.

As far as nuclear waste is concerned, what evidence do I need. We create it and we have no permanent solution. That means waste is sitting around improperly dealt with.
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
74,737
6,760
126
Originally posted by: gsaldivar
Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Originally posted by: gsaldivar

lol :D

Your Greenpeace "evidence" is insta-fail.

The same info is all over the web in news sites about French and German nuclear protests. And when an idiot like you says something it's "instant fail". What a pathetic logical argument you present.

So your "evidence" is that a protest took place? Yes... that's insta-fail.

No, France was held out as an example of successful nuclear power but it is having its own problems there. That was my point. You fail in understanding, doubtless because you have small feet.
 

frostedflakes

Diamond Member
Mar 1, 2005
7,925
1
81
Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Originally posted by: gsaldivar
Originally posted by: Moonbeam
The same info is all over the web in news sites about French and German nuclear protests. And when an idiot like you says something it's "instant fail". What a pathetic logical argument you present.

So your "evidence" is that a protest took place? Yes... that's insta-fail.

No, France was held out as an example of successful nuclear power but it is having its own problems there. That was my point. You fail in understanding, doubtless because you have small feet.
Did you read about the KiteGen project I mentioned earlier? Sounds very promising, it'd be great to hear more about that. Unfortunately I haven't heard anything about how close it is to commercialization, it seems like the research is moving at a pretty slow pace, so I'd think at least five years. If it lives up to expectations, though, it would be pretty amazing.

I hadn't read about France's issues with nuclear waste, that's definitely a bit of an eye opener. Of course, we have a lot more room to safely dump waste, but disposal of spent fuel and nuclear power in general is such a political nightmare, it's making me question if it's really worth pursuing. We've been researching Yucca Mountain for decades and thrown billions of dollars at the project, and little progress has been made.
 

daniel49

Diamond Member
Jan 8, 2005
4,814
0
71
well here in Washington state we had a govenor who was very pro nuke named dixie lee ray. thus we began the WPPPS (read whoops which it was nicknamed) powerplant at Satsop.
This plant was waaayy over budget from day one and eventually was mothballed without ever producing a KW of power.
WPPPS



Then there's Hanford a contaminated mess of leaky tanks that the Govt likes to play down.
Read esp the cleanup section.

hanford

I would be on board for Nuclear if I could be convinced they had the disposal problem solved, but they do not.
disposal
(The bacteria is an interesting idea ,but far from practical yet.)



France?? ahh the golden example they produce 80% of thier countries power through nuke plants. so surely they have an answer?( actually they have little choice since france has no oil or gas)


Today we stock containers of waste because currently scientists don't know how to reduce or eliminate the toxicity, but maybe in 100 years perhaps scientists will."
Bataille began working on a new law that he presented to parliament in 1991. It laid plans to build 3-4 research laboratories at various sites. These laboratories would be charged with investigating various options, including deep geological storage, above ground stocking and transmutation and detoxification of waste. The law calls for the labs to be built in the next few years and then, based on the research they yield, parliament will decide its final decision. Bataille's law specifies 2006 as the year in which parliament must decide which laboratory will become the national stocking center


Bataille's plan seems to be working. Several regions have applied to host underground laboratories hoping the labs will bring in money and high prestige scientific jobs. But ultimate success is by no means certain. One of these laboratories will, in effect, become the stocking center for the nation and the local people may find that unacceptable. If protesters organize, they can block shipments on the roads and rail. The situation could quickly get out of hand.


Nuclear waste is an enormously difficult political problem which to date no country has solved. It is, in a sense, the Achilles heel of the nuclear industry. Could this issue strike down France's uniquely successful nuclear program? France's politicians and technocrats are in no doubt. If France is unable to solve this issue, says Mandil, then "I do not see how we can continue our nuclear program."

france

They also apparently ship it to russia
russia
 

piasabird

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
17,168
60
91
France has had releases of nuclear contamination. Often they dont even tell the public what is going on.
 

SickBeast

Lifer
Jul 21, 2000
14,377
19
81
Originally posted by: tenshodo13
Problem is, there isn't enough fissionable material on earth to fuel current energy needs for much more than 50 or so years.

We need fusion energy. However, for the short term, Fission is fine.
We could just use wind. It's about as cost-effective as nuclear these days.

I also fail to understand why our hybrid cars don't all come with a plug-in feature. Why do they use the gas engine to charge the battery? In fact, why don't we have electric cars by now!?
 

Excelsior

Lifer
May 30, 2002
19,047
18
81
Originally posted by: Tab
Originally posted by: BoberFett
Originally posted by: KurskKnyaz
Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Solar, not coal or nuclear.

We need neighborhoods to bid on nuclear. Let the people ask the government to build a nuclear plant in their neighborhood. We'll build millions that way.

The waste we have already made has never been stored properly. Lots of containers are leaking all over the place. Nobody will ever clean up the mess because there's no money to do it with. The real cost of nuclear is always passed to future generations with by lies.

Do you have any evidence of this?

People will welcome solar and fight nuclear to death.

Solar power is too immature. We don't have an efficient way to store solar energy.

Not to mention, what is the environmental cost of building all those solar panels with their heavy metals and hazardous chemicals, and the constant maintenance and replacement of those panels? Just because the sunlight they use is environmentally friendly doesn't mean the panels are.

Ditto. I've heard this many times before... Exact same situation with the Prius, fuel-efficient car but the batteries are made out of some nasty stuff...

But that only concerns the photovoltaic tech..and ignores the other ways of harnessing solar power.
 

K1052

Elite Member
Aug 21, 2003
52,632
46,324
136
Originally posted by: SickBeast
Originally posted by: tenshodo13
Problem is, there isn't enough fissionable material on earth to fuel current energy needs for much more than 50 or so years.

We need fusion energy. However, for the short term, Fission is fine.
We could just use wind. It's about as cost-effective as nuclear these days.

I also fail to understand why our hybrid cars don't all come with a plug-in feature. Why do they use the gas engine to charge the battery? In fact, why don't we have electric cars by now!?

Wind is not a base load power source nor could we realistically/financially implement a wind program that could replace the power generated by nuclear energy.

 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
74,737
6,760
126
Wind Can Supply 20% of U.S. Electricity, Report Says


By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 13, 2008; Page D07

The Energy Department said yesterday that the United States has the ability to meet 20 percent of its electricity-generation needs with wind by 2030, enough to displace 50 percent of natural gas consumption and 18 percent of coal consumption