Nuclear power

the_tired_one

Theres plenty of water in the world; plenty of sun & plenty of wind

But methinks too many have a vested interest on a global scale in Oil/petrol/gas etc - and the profits they bring, for anything else ever to be considered seriously!

macaque_2

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

Ah!

So we have changed our tack now. Nothing to do with Japan. Just reiterating so-called 'facts' that have been regurgitated for years(and largely ignored) by most governments in the world.

Let's close them all down, and stick to the safe options. Coal mining, and all those oil tankers charging about the high seas.....

doh.....!

Enough of this. Sun has gone down over the yardarm. Time for my very large gin & tonic.

Good grief! Read the first post again and then write out 200 times "I will not get chippy with Macaque until I have read his posts properly".

abaxas

the_tired_one wrote: »

But when the miners perish, its just them & they dont pass on disease, disfigurement, & death through the generations...

In one well swoop you have just chemically neutered every disabled person in the UK.

Nice.

Kohoutek

the_tired_one wrote: »

Theres plenty of water in the world; plenty of sun & plenty of wind

Resources are useless if you don't have the technology to harness them to produce results that are adequate for a society that requires electricity constantly, not just when it's sunny or windy.

the_tired_one wrote: »

But methinks too many have a vested interest on a global scale in Oil/petrol/gas etc - and the profits they bring, for anything else ever to be considered seriously!

You can't put electricity from a wind turbine in a ship or aeroplane. That's the problem, not some conspiracy...

Kohoutek

As energy becomes more difficult and expensive to extract, many forms of energy which we are relying on for the future could also be deemed inherently unsafe...

Deepwater oil – see Macondo disaster

Shale gas – extensive evidence that the fracking process causes pollution to acquifiers

Geothermal power – drilling can trigger earthquakes

Underground coal gasification – involves burning coal seams underground

Oil sands extraction – releases enormous amounts of CO2

Degenerate

macaque wrote: »

Nuclear power fans are always telling us that they have solved the problems of safe nuclear engineering. Unfortunately, there are always factors (operator error, design faults, maintenance mistakes, acts of god etc) to confound the best laid plans. We have seen nuclear accidents all over the world now. That just confirms the fact that nuclear power and waste handling is inherently unsafe.

I don't see how an accident at a 1960s designed reactor proves anything about the safety of 2011 nuclear engineering.

amcluesent

Well, it's inevitable that decommissioning of coal plants without replacement capacity will mean the lights in Britain going out from 2015 onwards. If the build out of nuclear is delayed for another decade by dithering politicians, don't expect 'lecky when you flip the switch until 2030.

15 long years of cold nights around a flickering candle, food rotting for want of a fridge, dark dangerous streets, no TV/t'interweb, hybrid cars up on bricks. Thanks a bunch, Greens!

A._Badger

For an informed analysis of what is happening in Japan (as opposed to hysterical overreaction) the following is pretty good

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/14/fukushiima_analysis/

amcluesent

I think all new reactors should be constructed on top of a Saturn V rocket. If a meltdown starts, the rocket can blast off on a collision course with the sun, with no harm done.

macaque_2

A._Badger wrote: »

For an informed analysis of what is happening in Japan (as opposed to hysterical overreaction) the following is pretty good

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/14/fukushiima_analysis/

I don't think there has been 'hysterical overreaction' from either side in the debate and your 'informed analysis' appears come from an IT website. I was surprised by the title of Lewis Page's article:

Fukushima is a triumph for nuke power: Build more reactors now!

Given what is going on, that hardly sounds like the introduction to a measured analysis.