Which Country is the Largest Producer of Oil and Gas

[CID1990]

Actually, the biggest flaw in nuke power is a matter of scale and size.

The greens are going to raise hell about it no matter what.

It is security-minded government regulation that makes it so that nuke plants are MASSIVE (easier to keep tabs on your nuke fuel when it is all in one big pile, instead of 20 smaller more spread-out piles) and therefore more suceptible to massive accidents and natural disasters.

We have the ability to do it right, and the technology is plug-n-play

but dont fool yourself into thinking that there is any situation where the greens wont raise hell

You really do not want them on or near fault lines...
So the entire west coast is out of the question

Earth quakes x nuclear plants = BAD

well of course

but when your reactor is the size of, say, a two-drawer filing cabinet it can be made infinitely harder than the big bulky commercial reactors we see at Fukushima

The Navy has been using them for decades accident free - the subs can even implode and sink and the reactors stay intact and sealed

[GannonFan]

You really do not want them on or near fault lines...
So the entire west coast is out of the question

Earth quakes x nuclear plants = BAD

well of course

but when your reactor is the size of, say, a two-drawer filing cabinet it can be made infinitely harder than the big bulky commercial reactors we see at Fukushima

The Navy has been using them for decades accident free - the subs can even implode and sink and the reactors stay intact and sealed

Yup, the technology to make nuclear plants safe is well known and in use in many places, but when the science is thrown aside and you get people that just regurgitate "Fukishima" and "earthquakes" then we end up in the same situation where we make no progress and we end up burning coal (and really polluting the world) for another 30-40 years. Green indeed.

[Pwns]

Seems like it would be much easier to build strong and secure facilities for smaller reactors, and it would be easier to cool them as well.

No need to even consider nuclear power, though. Chernobyl! Three Mile Island! Fukushima! Hiroshima!

[houndawg]

Seems like it would be much easier to build strong and secure facilities for smaller reactors, and it would be easier to cool them as well.

No need to even consider nuclear power, though. Chernobyl! Three Mile Island! Fukushima! Hiroshima!

I would consider it a short/med term fix.

[houndawg]

well of course

but when your reactor is the size of, say, a two-drawer filing cabinet it can be made infinitely harder than the big bulky commercial reactors we see at Fukushima

The Navy has been using them for decades accident free - the subs can even implode and sink and the reactors stay intact and sealed

Yup, the technology to make nuclear plants safe is well known and in use in many places, but when the science is thrown aside and you get people that just regurgitate "Fukishima" and "earthquakes" then we end up in the same situation where we make no progress and we end up burning coal (and really polluting the world) for another 30-40 years. Green indeed.

Meh. That's just the American mentality; short-term, small-time thinking. Nothing is important but the quarterly P&L statement.

[Baldy]

Actually, the biggest flaw in nuke power is a matter of scale and size.

The greens are going to raise hell about it no matter what.

It is security-minded government regulation that makes it so that nuke plants are MASSIVE (easier to keep tabs on your nuke fuel when it is all in one big pile, instead of 20 smaller more spread-out piles) and therefore more suceptible to massive accidents and natural disasters.

We have the ability to do it right, and the technology is plug-n-play

but dont fool yourself into thinking that there is any situation where the greens wont raise hell

Probably do, but the first time they can save money by cutting corners with respect to safety, they will. For me the biggest problem is the handing down of the spent fuel mess to literally hundreds of generations.

Oh yeah, those public utilities are a bunch of shady characters who bypass safety regulations all the time.
It's only been 50+ years since the first commercial nuclear reactor went online, and I'm sure they are counting down the days until they will be able to start cutting corners.

[houndawg]

Probably do, but the first time they can save money by cutting corners with respect to safety, they will. For me the biggest problem is the handing down of the spent fuel mess to literally hundreds of generations.

Oh yeah, those public utilities are a bunch of shady characters who bypass safety regulations all the time.
It's only been 50+ years since the first commercial nuclear reactor went online, and I'm sure they are counting down the days until they will be able to start cutting corners.

They're run by accountants, which guarantees quality and morale problems.

[Baldy]

Oh yeah, those public utilities are a bunch of shady characters who bypass safety regulations all the time.
It's only been 50+ years since the first commercial nuclear reactor went online, and I'm sure they are counting down the days until they will be able to start cutting corners.

They're run by accountants, which guarantees quality and morale problems.

Oh I know, that's why you see reactors melting down all the time.

[LeadBolt]

Yup, the technology to make nuclear plants safe is well known and in use in many places, but when the science is thrown aside and you get people that just regurgitate "Fukishima" and "earthquakes" then we end up in the same situation where we make no progress and we end up burning coal (and really polluting the world) for another 30-40 years. Green indeed.

Meh. That's just the American mentality; short-term, small-time thinking. Nothing is important but the quarterly P&L statement.

The US is 31st in the world in terms of the % of electricity produced by nuclear energy, just behind Romania. France is #1. Perhaps those other 30 nations all suffer from short term American thinking.

[HI54UNI]

At the moment, our government's most significant renewable regulatory role is blocking China from dumping cheap green products. You could argue regulatory control inflates U.S. manufacturing cost (chicken or egg), but if trade blocks were dropped, most American residential would have online solar within a decade.

Utilities are spending serious millions to buy legislation that inhibits roof top solar. In Florida it is now illegal to be off the grid.

I call bullshit. Is this about the woman in Florida that is in trouble for using the city sewer system but isn't paying for it?

[Chizzang]

You really do not want them on or near fault lines...
So the entire west coast is out of the question

Earth quakes x nuclear plants = BAD

well of course

but when your reactor is the size of, say, a two-drawer filing cabinet it can be made infinitely harder than the big bulky commercial reactors we see at Fukushima

The Navy has been using them for decades accident free - the subs can even implode and sink and the reactors stay intact and sealed

Yes Okee Dokee...
But when you live where the earth quakes are it creates an irrational fear of all things nuclear

(I'm not kidding)
I'm not suggesting they can't be made safe in quake zones
but its f_cking not a comfy feeling


6.8 in 2001 right here in Seattle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Nisqually_earthquake" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[CID1990]

well of course

but when your reactor is the size of, say, a two-drawer filing cabinet it can be made infinitely harder than the big bulky commercial reactors we see at Fukushima

The Navy has been using them for decades accident free - the subs can even implode and sink and the reactors stay intact and sealed

Yes Okee Dokee...
But when you live where the earth quakes are it creates an irrational fear of all things nuclear

(I'm not kidding)
I'm not suggesting they can't be made safe in quake zones
but its f_cking not a comfy feeling


6.8 in 2001 right here in Seattle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Nisqually_earthquake" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can take an S6G reactor from a SSN 688 class attack boat and completely encase it in a completely closed system with coolant and it would take up the space of a couple closets. Then encase that in as much concrete and steel as your heart desires. Then you can drop the thing from the top of a skyscraper with a clear conscience and still get 170 MW out of it

every town should have one

then an earthquake comes along, knocks it off the stand it is sitting on and you just go set it back up

It is exceedingly safe nuclear power- there's more danger of being poisoned by coal ash in the waterways than you'd ever have to fear from a Navy reactor