Nuclear Energy!

[Cabisco]

I think nuclear energy is the best kind of energy we can have. Sadly everyone is stuck in chernobyl mode about the whole thing, the fact is new reactors like the ones in france are idiotically safe, so safe in fact i'd happily life next to one knowing a. cheap housing and b. I get to shout at french people c. Safe, very safe.

Did you really need a reason other than that one?

On Topic: I like it and wish they'd get around to it. Power bills be rising and a nuclear reactor or two would cut out the greedy bastards charging so much for their coal-powered plants. Of course, knowing my government they'd find some way to fuck it up and end up having us pay more for cheaper electricity.

The only problem is disposing of the waste. Find a country with a massive and uninhabited desert, dig a big hole, and dump it all there. Or in France. That'll teach them for making bloody Renaults.

I wonder if we could possibly build all the nuclear reactors in france, then dump it all in france while paying the french in garlic. I do believe this is worth us writing a letter to our local european minister.

I... I actually want to write that letter.

 

[RooftopAssassin]

I think it's a good sustainable source of energy. I think it should be combined with other clean sources of energy to make as much clean energy as possible.

its a clean and cheap sustainable source of energy the only problem is the waste

It is not Sustainable, Uranium/Plutonium is a Finite resource that comes from a form of Ore. Gen 4/breeder reactors in research have the possibility of increasing the life of Nuclear fuel, but it is still a Finite resource, therefore it is not sustainable.

The Concept of Nuclear Fusion however does pose a possibility of perpetual energy production without the need for constant fuel source, but it is only theoretical in this moment in time, we do not have the technology at this moment in time to maintain a fusion reaction. All nuclear power is currently produced under Fission at the moment.

How ever to rooftops comment, I feel it is a viable option to be combined with other sources of energy such as renewable energy. We need a Base-load power supply, which nuclear could provide us, whilst Wind,solar,wave etc. can provide us the extra power we need.

This is basically the just of what I was trying to say. When I said sustainable, I guess what I really meant was "Just as good as coal or [insert fossil fuel here]." That being said, Canada and Australia would have a field day...

 

[JWAN]

well we store the waste under a several billion ton granite mountain in the middle of nowhere so its a non issue. Especially because the containers we transport it in have been tested by being burned, shot with rockets and hit with fully loaded freight trains at top speeds.

Im all for nuclear power. The only reason its so damn expensive is because of the red tape. Some of it is necessary but the vast majority of it is bullshit.

 

[Elementlmage]

I'm definitely for it. I think at the moment it's the most feasible source of 'Green' energy. The important factor I see is what we'd do with waste, which I reckon should be launched into space.

As an added bonus from an Australian perspective, we'd still make money cause we've got shitloads of Uranium.

all though i agree, wouldnt launching into space cause more co2 , unless it was a solar/nuclear rocket.

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(Space)Rockets make H2O by burning Hydrogen and Oxygen. It's been that way for decades.

 

[Red Albatross]

It's the best idea we have, and the only feasible one for providing enough energy for our growing population (barring very significant breakthroughs in the practical application of other renewable energy sources, like solar power).

Unfortunately, many people still associate nuclear power with danger, so we're not making the progress we should be. Never mind the fact that safety in the nuclear power industry has improved by an order of magnitude since the dawn of nuclear energy. On top of that, anyone who's actually cared to read more than a scaremongering headline about the most famous nuclear disaster, Chernobyl, would know about the absolutely inexcusable breaches in the already existing safety regulations that were committed by the team running the plant at the time of the accident, or even the lack of safety features in the plant's construction.

Being afraid of nuclear power in the present is like being afraid of driving a car because someone crashed a go-kart 40 years ago and died because they weren't wearing a helmet.

Edit: as to the problem of disposing of waste...make a railgun, fire the spent fuel rods into the sun. Problem solved. It would be like firing a BB gun at Mount Everest in terms of "impact."

 

[Jfswift]

I did some digg

Why not drop the waste into a volcano and return it to the Earth? Anyway, if we can get fusion power to work, we won't need anything else.

That's an original idea although I did some digging and found that it wouldn't work either. http://www.physicsforums.com/archive/index.php/t-238533.html

Also, as far as I know Nuclear energy isn't the worst idea ever, and modern processes make it more efficient now too (supposedly we can burn up spent rods). However, it's not green, because I heard it takes about 10 years to construct a plant and alot of pollutants are pushed into the atmosphere during the build process (from general construction techniques I mean).

 

[Blue Musician]

I am not in favor of it, but I am not against it either. It can make a good energy source, but if it's used incorrectly it can cause another Chernobyl disaster, and if they do not dispose the nuclear waste it can be ecologically disastrous. It depends how it's treated really, but if it's used correctly it can be very useful.

 

[BlackStar42]

I did some digg

Why not drop the waste into a volcano and return it to the Earth? Anyway, if we can get fusion power to work, we won't need anything else.

That's an original idea although I did some digging and found that it wouldn't work either. http://www.physicsforums.com/archive/index.php/t-238533.html

Also, as far as I know Nuclear energy isn't the worst idea ever, and modern processes make it more efficient now too (supposedly we can burn up spent rods). However, it's not green, because I heard it takes about 10 years to construct a plant and alot of pollutants are pushed into the atmosphere during the build process (from general construction techniques I mean).

Damn... What I was thinking was, since radioactive isotopes are already in the mantle, if we put more in it wouldn't do anything, but I forgot that the volcano would spew it out again. Here's an idea- pay Saharan countries to bury it in the desert. We get rid of it, they get money, it doesn't ruin good land- everyone's happy. Would that work?

 

[Internet Kraken]

This is basically the just of what I was trying to say. When I said sustainable, I guess what I really meant was "Just as good as coal or [insert fossil fuel here]." That being said, Canada and Australia would have a field day...

Which is why nuclear power is not the solution to our energy problems. We should be investing in advancing power sources that are sustainable over a long period of time. Nuclear power is finite. Relying on it will just delay the problem. I don't get why people think it's so great.

 

[Krafty_Krocodile]

I'm definitely for it. I think at the moment it's the most feasible source of 'Green' energy. The important factor I see is what we'd do with waste, which I reckon should be launched into space.

As an added bonus from an Australian perspective, we'd still make money cause we've got shitloads of Uranium.

all though i agree, wouldnt launching into space cause more co2 , unless it was a solar/nuclear rocket.

if an accident happened on the ship then there would be nuclear waste spread all across the world

 

[Extraintrovert]

The future of energy production for this planet is in nuclear fusion, but that won't be for at least another century. Until then, regular nuclear fission is the answer, considering how absurdly efficient it is. Yes, there are plenty of problems as has been listed, but it isn't as if our current production methods don't have their myriad problems as well.

Wait, did I just type that harnessing nuclear fission for electricity is regular? How jaded am I?

 

[Marowit]

Basically this:

http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates.html

 

[RooftopAssassin]

This is basically the just of what I was trying to say. When I said sustainable, I guess what I really meant was "Just as good as coal or [insert fossil fuel here]." That being said, Canada and Australia would have a field day...

Which is why nuclear power is not the solution to our energy problems. We should be investing in advancing power sources that are sustainable over a long period of time. Nuclear power is finite. Relying on it will just delay the problem. I don't get why people think it's so great.

I'm trying to agree with you, but you're making it awfully hard.

 

[imnot]

I'm definitely for it. I think at the moment it's the most feasible source of 'Green' energy. The important factor I see is what we'd do with waste, which I reckon should be launched into space.

As an added bonus from an Australian perspective, we'd still make money cause we've got shitloads of Uranium.

all though i agree, wouldnt launching into space cause more co2 , unless it was a solar/nuclear rocket.

............................................______ __.....
....................................,.-'"......... ..........``~,
.............................,.-"................. .................."-.,
.........................,/....................... .......................":,
.....................,?........................... ..........................,
.................../.............................. ...........................,}
................./................................ ...................,:`^`.}
.............../.................................. ................,:"......../
..............?.....__............................ .............:`........./
............./__.(....."~-,_...................... ........,:`........./
.........../(_...."~,_........"~,_................ ....,:`........_/
..........{.._$;_......"=,_......."-,_.......,.-~- ,},.~";/....}
...........((.....*~_......."=-._......";,,./`.... /"............../
...,,,___.`~,......"~.,....................`..... }............../
............(....`=-,,.......`.................... ....(......;_,,-"
............/.`~,......`-......................... ............
.............`~.*-,.............................. .......|,./.....,__
,,_..........}.>-._.............................. .....|..............`=~-,
.....`=~-,__......`,............................ .............................
...................`=~-,,.,...................... ..................................
................................`:,,.............. .............`..............__
.....................................`=-,......... ..........,%`>--==``
........................................_........ ..._,-%.......`
...................................,<`.._|_,-&``.. ..............`


(Space)Rockets make H2O by burning Hydrogen and Oxygen. It's been that way for decades.

really! why didnt i know that!
and now look what i made you do!

 

[similar.squirrel]

I'm vehemently in favour. The Chernobyl and Three Mile Island incidents happened because the engineers decided to fiddle around with the reactor on manual control. In order to make weapons-grade plutonium.

That was patriotic stupidity, not unreliable hardware. I'd still be much more comfortable with fission reactors, though. Those could save the world.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

I was wondering what other Escapists thoughts were on nuclear energy. Have questions? Post em' here and see if anyone can answer them.

I think it's a good sustainable source of energy. I think it should be combined with other clean sources of energy to make as much clean energy as possible. Of course the threat of a meltdown is always there, but with advancements in nuclear reactor technology the threat is minimal. The only thing better than nuclear is fusion!

So, what are your thoughts?

Heres a fun fact for you. people dont know what to write on toxic waste dumps. The reason? It takes thousands of years to decay so in its lifetime language may change and people may forget about it. Skulls may indicate a tomb so people will go and dig it up. Im not sure what they went for in the end, i think the lambda sign with a radioactive symbol. And a big X.

I support nuclear energy but i thought that was a cool little thing.

 

[Something Amyss]

I'm a huge fan of myopia. Nuke, baby, Nuke!

 

[squiggothhunter]

I could care less if it's "green" but it's cheap and we can bury our nuclear waste in caves in Afghanistan we think terrorists are hiding in.

And yes it's a finite resource but we don't have a ton of alternatives do we? Solar, wind, whatever else you try just doesn't have the raw power to replace coal and oil.

Nuclear should be used until fusion tech is available. And oil and coal have gotten us this far, Nuclear will get us farther, and barring a nuclear holocaust i'm sure humanity will discover a decent way to create "clean" powerful and infinitely sustainable energy.

 

[RooftopAssassin]

I was wondering what other Escapists thoughts were on nuclear energy. Have questions? Post em' here and see if anyone can answer them.

I think it's a good sustainable source of energy. I think it should be combined with other clean sources of energy to make as much clean energy as possible. Of course the threat of a meltdown is always there, but with advancements in nuclear reactor technology the threat is minimal. The only thing better than nuclear is fusion!

So, what are your thoughts?

Heres a fun fact for you. people dont know what to write on toxic waste dumps. The reason? It takes thousands of years to decay so in its lifetime language may change and people may forget about it. Skulls may indicate a tomb so people will go and dig it up. Im not sure what they went for in the end, i think the lambda sign with a radioactive symbol. And a big X.

I support nuclear energy but i thought that was a cool little thing.

Interesting. I never thought about that far into the future, but I guess it's something we need to think about especially since it will be radioactive for so long.

 

[Sharkosauros]

im for it, no doubt, thing is , meltdowns scare the shit out of people . and its understandble.. specially when homer simpsons is in charge of the meltdown preventing thingy