Nuclear power is the greenest option, say top scientists

[pismoe]

a mix of different power sources is best in my opinion .

 

[JoeMoma]

Nukes are great for maintaining centralized power. Just imagine if people could produce what they needed on their own! Why, they might get ideas of independence! Besides, there are no dangers other than terrorists, earthquakes, floods, strikes and others we haven't realized yet.

We have those dangers with conventional power plants we have now. Very few people produce what they "need" on their own today. If I couldn't get my food at the local grocery store, I'd be in deep shit. With a year of two of planning if I had to, I could plant a garden and grow most of my own food, but I'm to lazy to do that.

 

[there4eyeM]

It doesn't take much to make nuke defenders go nuts. One wonders what makes them so adamant. We have so many attractive alternatives to the present system of filthy energy, but change seems impossible for certain mindsets.

 

[Uncensored2008]

[

Could we then forget offshore drilling and those pipelines?

Are you planning to put plutonium in your car?

If we had enough nuclear energy plants, it would be viable to switch over to mostly electric cars in 20 years.

Battery technology is not viable. The Lithium Ion cells we use are an environmental disaster.

 

[Uncensored2008]

It doesn't take much to make nuke defenders go nuts. One wonders what makes them so adamant. We have so many attractive alternatives to the present system of filthy energy, but change seems impossible for certain mindsets.

Yet hydroelectric is VASTLY more dangerous than nuclear. The number of deaths from nuclear is minuscule in comparison.

More ignorance spread by neophytes.

 

[there4eyeM]

Americans think, for example, that any change to their current concepts of what personal transportation means 'returning to the stone age'. Two ton Stupid Useless Vehicles are a right that can not be infringed upon.

 

[Uncensored2008]

Americans think, for example, that any change to their current concepts of what personal transportation means 'returning to the stone age'. Two ton Stupid Useless Vehicles are a right that can not be infringed upon.

Personal transportation is a vital liberty. The ability to go where one pleases, when one pleases, is a vital part of liberty.

Leftists seek to push all people onto public transportation, where people can be tracked and monitored, herded like cattle. Where the destination is determined by the elite, not by the individual. Americans will not give up our cars, it will not happen in your lifetime.

 

[elektra]

I wouldn't be surprised if Trump doesn't cut through a lot of the regulation that is preventing the building of new nuclear energy plants. If he does, will Rdean say thank you?

Watts Bar 2 just came on line, Vogtle and VC Summer both are building 2 each, that is one completed and four under construction. Duke Energy just had permits to build 2 more in South Carolina approved. It seems a lot of the regulation has already been cut through

 

[elektra]

And all the greenies want to use is windmills, solar panels and algae. They are skeerd of them Nuke Power Plants.

Well yeah, nuclear power is based on actual science, which democrats lack the capacity to understand.

It is a great way to reduce CO2 emissions and still produce enough energy to live in a 1st world society. That should make the man made climate change chicken littles happy if that was there true cause and not world wide wealth redistribution..

Could we then forget offshore drilling and those pipelines?

No, you need Hydrocarbons for all things in a modern society, even to provide lubrication for all those wind turbines.

 

[elektra]

It doesn't take much to make nuke defenders go nuts. One wonders what makes them so adamant. We have so many attractive alternatives to the present system of filthy energy, but change seems impossible for certain mindsets.

You have not alternative to today's "filthy" energy. Heavy Industry churning out thousands upon thousands of Wind Turbines and Solar Panels forever is hardly clean or sustainable.

 

[elektra]

Yet hydroelectric is VASTLY more dangerous than nuclear. The number of deaths from nuclear is minuscule in comparison.

More ignorance spread by neophytes.

Venezuela is a Hydroelectric powered country. They are currently suffering large power shortages that have crippled and just about destroyed their society. There has not been one death in the USA related to a Nuclear Reactor. There have been at least 12 deaths in the USA directly caused by Hydroelectric failures.

 

[rdean]

Well, folks, THAT democrat is telling you nuclear power is sensible. And I agree, although the radioactive waste and the occasional disasters like Chernobyl and Fukushima are somewhat worrisome. But everything has a down side. You have to weigh which is worse.

Chernobyl happened because of two reasons. A culture of insufficient safety regulations leading to poor design and an experiment in safety that failed. Remember, Chernobyl ran for two years before they ran the safety check that led to the meltdown.

Both issues that to me are pure GOP. We know Republicans hate regulations. They want to get rid of the economic policies put in place after the economic meltdown at the end of Bush second term. So what happened then will probably happen again.

Any science and education involving the Republicans make me suspicious. I don't believe there is any area of science the GOP hasn't squared off against with scientists on the other side of the ring. Look at Republicans on the USMB for an example. How many say scientists are so stupid they can't tie their own shoes. That scientists are overeducated or they only work for government contracts and are really quite lazy.

Look who they put in charge of our nuclear testing and development. A man with a BS in animal husbandry with a specialty in meat, who didn't know anything nuclear was part of the energy department. A man who called for abolishing the department and then apologizing for wanting to abolish it without knowing what it did.

And USMB Republicans saying, Rick Perry should be fine. All you need to know are the regulations to run a department. Did Republicans argue for that position? Trying to point out that someone needs to be able to write those regulations should be part of a job to what I have no doubt were completely blank faces.

I suspect Republicans trying to get a nuclear power plant running would be just a huge boondoggle anyway. I doubt if it could happen anyway.

Only 6% of Scientists Are Republicans, 55% Are Dems

I believe that nuclear energy could be made safe. But I would never trust Republicans to do it. They aren't educated enough, they aren't democratic and lie too damn much.

 

[rdean]

Funny, I ended the argument with a few known facts.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Takes that long, huh? Still sounds good.
Could clever people try to figure out a way to eliminate the nuclear waste? Not just bury it, I mean.

Already done...there are several reactor designs that are FUELED by it. They are called a WAMSR: Waste-Annihilating Molten Salt Reactor. That is their greatest advantage...another being they are passively safe. They CANNOT melt down...some use the molten-salt coolant as a catalyst-without it, they simply shut down. Others use no conventional coolant-instead, they use a safety plug. If the reactor gets too hot, the plug melts. The (liquid) reactant drains into a concrete basin, shaped to stop the reaction.

 

[Jarlaxle]

I wouldn't be surprised if Trump doesn't cut through a lot of the regulation that is preventing the building of new nuclear energy plants. If he does, will Rdean say thank you?

Watts Bar 2 just came on line, Vogtle and VC Summer both are building 2 each, that is one completed and four under construction. Duke Energy just had permits to build 2 more in South Carolina approved. It seems a lot of the regulation has already been cut through

Those are expansions of existing plants. The last NEW nuclear plant to be built broke ground when Gerald Ford was in the White House! (Seabrook, NH, 1976!)

 

[elektra]

Those are expansions of existing plants. The last NEW nuclear plant to be built broke ground when Gerald Ford was in the White House! (Seabrook, NH, 1976!)

No, it is not an expansion of existing plants, Unit 2 at Watts Bar is brand new. Its construction began in maybe 1973 and was suspended for some 43 years, but the plant just began operation. Watts Bar 2 is a separate unit than unit 1. So you are wrong about Seabrook being the last NEW nuclear plant built.

Vogtle 3&4 will technically be the newest plants built, Westinghouse AP1000's. There are no AP1000's in the USA so your idea that these are simply an "expansion" of existing plants is just flat out wrong.

VC Summer is also building Units 2&3, two completely separate units, AP1000's. Again, in no way an expansion of existing nuclear power plants.

You could say they are on the same site as an older unit, but they are still not an expansion of the older unit.

 

[elektra]

Chernobyl happened because of two reasons. A culture of insufficient safety regulations leading to poor design and an experiment in safety that failed. Remember, Chernobyl ran for two years before they ran the safety check that led to the meltdown.

Both issues that to me are pure GOP. We know Republicans hate regulations. They want to get rid of the economic policies put in place after the economic meltdown at the end of Bush second term. So what happened then will probably happen again.

Any science and education involving the Republicans make me suspicious. I don't believe there is any area of science the GOP hasn't squared off against with scientists on the other side of the ring. Look at Republicans on the USMB for an example. How many say scientists are so stupid they can't tie their own shoes. That scientists are overeducated or they only work for government contracts and are really quite lazy.

Look who they put in charge of our nuclear testing and development. A man with a BS in animal husbandry with a specialty in meat, who didn't know anything nuclear was part of the energy department. A man who called for abolishing the department and then apologizing for wanting to abolish it without knowing what it did.

And USMB Republicans saying, Rick Perry should be fine. All you need to know are the regulations to run a department. Did Republicans argue for that position? Trying to point out that someone needs to be able to write those regulations should be part of a job to what I have no doubt were completely blank faces.

I suspect Republicans trying to get a nuclear power plant running would be just a huge boondoggle anyway. I doubt if it could happen anyway.

Only 6% of Scientists Are Republicans, 55% Are Dems

I believe that nuclear energy could be made safe. But I would never trust Republicans to do it. They aren't educated enough, they aren't democratic and lie too damn much.

Chernobyl? That was in Russia you fucking idiot! You are blaming a Nuclear Power Plant accident in Russia, on the Republicans! And you state the Republicans are not educated?

 

[Crick]

He is pointing out that Chernobyl took place due to a lack of regulations, something Republicans seem to favor. Did you not get that the first time around?

 

[Jarlaxle]

Those are expansions of existing plants. The last NEW nuclear plant to be built broke ground when Gerald Ford was in the White House! (Seabrook, NH, 1976!)

No, it is not an expansion of existing plants, Unit 2 at Watts Bar is brand new. Its construction began in maybe 1973 and was suspended for some 43 years, but the plant just began operation. Watts Bar 2 is a separate unit than unit 1. So you are wrong about Seabrook being the last NEW nuclear plant built.

Wrong. Watts Bar 1 has been running for 20 years. (Construction on it started 3 years before Seabrook.) Watts Bar 2 is being built at an existing nuclear power plant.

Vogtle 3&4 will technically be the newest plants built, Westinghouse AP1000's. There are no AP1000's in the USA so your idea that these are simply an "expansion" of existing plants is just flat out wrong.

No, it isn't...because, you know...Vogtle already has 2 reactors! They are adding two new units to an existing nuclear power plant!

VC Summer is also building Units 2&3, two completely separate units, AP1000's. Again, in no way an expansion of existing nuclear power plants.

You could say they are on the same site as an older unit, but they are still not an expansion of the older unit.

*facepalm*

I never said they were! I said they were expansions of existing nuclear power PLANTS...and they are! I repeat: there has not been a new nuclear power PLANT built in forty years.

 

[Jarlaxle]

He is pointing out that Chernobyl took place due to a lack of regulations, something Republicans seem to favor. Did you not get that the first time around?

Chornobyl exploded due to poor design and construction, lack of a containment building, and a staff that was actually not familiar with how the plant operated! (Seriously.)