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LKL
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Joined: Jul 22, 2007
Age: 32
Posts: 1081
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 Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 12:54 am Post subject: nuclear energy |
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| McCain wants to build 45 new nuclear reactors. Does anyone know whether there's enough fissible material inside the United States, that's reachable in a fairly economic manner, to power those reactors for any length of time? I'm not sure that buying nuclear material from Niger (or wherever) is better than buying oil from Saudi Arabia. |
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Orwell
Outer Party Member
Joined: Aug 09, 2007
Age: 19
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Location: Room 101
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 1:00 am Post subject: |
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Crap, something I agree with McCain on. 
We can get fissionable material, and cheaper than oil at least. I actually think we need to diversify the our energy supplies enough that we aren't dependent on one or a few technologies- we should have fossil fuels, nuclear power, wind, solar, geothermal, and hydroelectric. Combining all of these will help to ease the strain and spread demand out enough to keep markets more stable.
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ValMikeSmith
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Joined: May 19, 2008
Posts: 488
Location: Stranger in a strange land
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 1:24 am Post subject: |
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| <oops! delete this post> |
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Ishmael
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Joined: Jul 08, 2008
Posts: 1170
Location: Australia
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 2:16 am Post subject: |
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Australia has plenty of fissionable materials to be entirely self sufficient in nuclear power, without even impacting upon the uranium we provide India and world trade.
The only problem is getting panicky vegan environmentalists to shut up about the word "nuclear". I wish those people would get an education about nuclear power from anywhere but media! All the while coal resources diminish.
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LostInEmulation
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Joined: Feb 11, 2008
Posts: 1271
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 6:01 am Post subject: |
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Maybe read Gudrun Pausewang's The Cloud then. Or come up with a plan how to store the used-up material for x k years.
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Ishmael
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Joined: Jul 08, 2008
Posts: 1170
Location: Australia
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 6:22 am Post subject: |
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| LostInEmulation wrote: | | Maybe read Gudrun Pausewang's The Cloud then. Or come up with a plan how to store the used-up material for x k years. |
No need; others have. Using new process nuclear waste loses it's radioactivity after merely ten years. As for "the cloud"... you do know what that really is, right...? Do you?
...would you rather acid rain, every city looking like Beijing? Two words; growth, infrastructure. Knowing that will let you find out - from resources other than one book - what can work where, etc.
Modern technology, modern nation, no three eyed fish or chernoybl disaster. Besides which; coal is running out, solar, hydroelectric and wind are not constant enough to provide complete power - only so much as around 40% could ever conceivably be those, given current infastructure and population distribution, social and cultural life.
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DentArthurDent
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Age: 43
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Location: Ballarat, Australia
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 6:50 am Post subject: |
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| Ishmael wrote: |
No need; others have. Using new process nuclear waste loses it's radioactivity after merely ten years. |
Evidence please
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Ishmael
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Joined: Jul 08, 2008
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Location: Australia
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 8:25 am Post subject: |
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| DentArthurDent wrote: | | Ishmael wrote: |
No need; others have. Using new process nuclear waste loses it's radioactivity after merely ten years. |
Evidence please |
Just google it, if you want prelims. Many different teams in several nations are developing this sort of tech. Information is limited for the uninvolved, at this time - though I believe there was a news report earlier this year. Probably besides the point, some reactor models would not produce waste.
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LKL
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Fuzzy
Ack! Thbbbt!
Joined: Mar 31, 2006
Posts: 2081
Location: Alberta Canada
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 1:30 pm Post subject: Re: nuclear energy |
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| LKL wrote: | | McCain wants to build 45 new nuclear reactors. Does anyone know whether there's enough fissible material inside the United States, that's reachable in a fairly economic manner, to power those reactors for any length of time? I'm not sure that buying nuclear material from Niger (or wherever) is better than buying oil from Saudi Arabia. |
More good news for Canada. We produce 23% of the worlds supply of uranium.
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Ishmael
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Location: Australia
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 1:49 pm Post subject: |
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LKL, I can't post links on an iPhone. As I said; there is little information available, because for some reason this sort of work is put on the back burner, in addition to it's relative infancy.
About the only name I can find references to is a germen scientist, last name of Rolf, I believe. New scientist has a topic from 2006 on it, he was amongst the first to try such. Very little is publicized. Personally, I think the ten year figure some are suggesting is a little optimistic, but not impossible.
Still, I wouldn't get my hopes up - if I were you - for much more information until 2012, and perhaps nothing of practical application until 2016.
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YowlingCat
Lick a Cat - Get a Hairball
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Joined: Feb 12, 2007
Posts: 1113
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 3:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
No need; others have. Using new process nuclear waste loses it's radioactivity after merely ten years. |
Utter BS.
http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10667&page=R1
http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10667&page=50#p200071079970050001
Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) which is High Level Waste (HLW) will need to be contained for centuries, at least. The containment will need to withstand earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters and well as deliberate sabotage, and will need to continue over this extreme period of time.
I'm no vegan; I've worked in the industry (not that the two are mutually exclusive). (I held a US "Q" clearance, which, at the time held you up for investigation back to the 6th grade - not that stringent anymore - $$$). Storage is the number one problem with nuclear energy. |
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Ishmael
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Posts: 1170
Location: Australia
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 3:32 pm Post subject: |
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Yowling cat; of course it's BS for SNF. It won't change existing waste! Merely produce a waste with a lower half-life. Good luck finding out more information in English, though...
Storage isn't a problem in my country; but still do the environmentalists complain.
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DentArthurDent
Phoenix
Joined: Jul 27, 2008
Age: 43
Posts: 693
Location: Ballarat, Australia
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 8:50 pm Post subject: |
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Type 'Nuclear remediation' into google and you will get some articles on this. Apparently this technology has been around since the mid 60's. Funny though, no peer reviews, no links to government or recognised scientific sites, mmmmm what's that smell. OOH its BULLSHIT.
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LKL
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Joined: Jul 22, 2007
Age: 32
Posts: 1081
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| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 11:01 pm Post subject: |
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| It does seem on the face of it as though it would require changing the laws of physics in order to work... |
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