Nuclear Power

[delldude]

The tragic 8.9 quake in Japan has brought pain and suffering to that part of the world. In the next weeks, countless stories will come out about a multitude of things related to the quake. My sympathies go out to anyone anywhere affected by this disaster.

One question remains......Nuclear power......I expect the anti-nuke crowd to seize upon this moment, particularly in the US, to attempt to drive a silver spike in the heart of nuclear power generation for a replacement of coal fired generation.

I must ask....what have been the largest earthquakes in countries with nuclear plants and what have been the results of these quakes?

Design of a nuclear power plant has to consider a multitude of variables including quakes, but how can engineering factor in surviving a 8.9 quake?

This has to be on the extreme end of engineering and I expect it to be somewhat hard to calculate.

Opinions?

 

[Ms Tree]

Accidents will happen any where to anything. I think building a nuke plant ina earth quake zone here in the US is pretty stupid. Given Japan size their options are limited.

I have other issues with nuke plants.

 

[delldude]

Accidents will happen any where to anything. I think building a nuke plant ina earth quake zone here in the US is pretty stupid. Given Japan size their options are limited.

I have other issues with nuke plants.

You're kidding.

What options to nuke power is there? What, we have some 500 years of 'dirty coal' and a couple hundred years of oil reserves.....so what's a dictator to do?

Hey, look what I found:

http://www.businessinsider.com/biggest-earthquakes-ever-2011-3

 

[Ms Tree]

Right now very little other than the conventional ones. I think the money being made off of nuclear power and fossil fuels has all but stifled R&D into alternatives. Add our penchant for over sized homes and our inability to conserve anything and we are pretty much screwed. Not sure about you but I have no interest in living next to or in the shadow of a nuclear power plant.

Personally I think the future is in solar. If the Fed would get behind it to make it more affordable, I think most homes could be powered almost entirely by solar. Those areas who do not have enough sun light can probably supplement it by wind. Fossil fuels could be used as a back up and give the low need for fossil fuels, the cost would be much less.

 

[SparrowHawk]

Right now very little other than the conventional ones. I think the money being made off of nuclear power and fossil fuels has all but stifled R&D into alternatives. Add our penchant for over sized homes and our inability to conserve anything and we are pretty much screwed. Not sure about you but I have no interest in living next to or in the shadow of a nuclear power plant.

Personally I think the future is in solar. If the Fed would get behind it to make it more affordable, I think most homes could be powered almost entirely by solar. Those areas who do not have enough sun light can probably supplement it by wind. Fossil fuels could be used as a back up and give the low need for fossil fuels, the cost would be much less.

Without government meddling the free market will eventually lead us away form fossil fuel, where it leads is anyone's guess. Hydrogen is looking good too

 

[Ms Tree]

I agree that given time the market will do the trick. My problem with the free market is that it is reactive where a proactive force is needed. The time to get a good public transportation system in place is before you need it not after fuel hits $5 plus a gallon. We need to start getting off of fossil fuels now, not when the market says its time too. By then it is too late and the market has to play catch up.

I do not want the Fed controlling it but I think they are the only ones who can fund the research on the level needed to allow the market a head start.

 

[SparrowHawk]

I agree that given time the market will do the trick. My problem with the free market is that it is reactive where a proactive force is needed. The time to get a good public transportation system in place is before you need it not after fuel hits $5 plus a gallon. We need to start getting off of fossil fuels now, not when the market says its time too. By then it is too late and the market has to play catch up.

I do not want the Fed controlling it but I think they are the only ones who can fund the research on the level needed to allow the market a head start.

I don't disagree. However this is not the role of the Federal Government.

Call it a flaw in our system but it's private enterprise free from government regulation that fuels the engine of innovation.

This is a basic difference between the Republicrats, Demicans and Libertarians.

 

[tech2101]

I don't disagree. However this is not the role of the Federal Government.

Call it a flaw in our system but it's private enterprise free from government regulation that fuels the engine of innovation.

This is a basic difference between the Republicrats, Demicans and Libertarians.

Do you think private enterprise would have invested what it took to get us to the moon? There are so many things that come out of the space program, funded by the federal government, that would never have happened were it not for the forward thinking of NASA and its government money.

 

[700UW]

Well one plant had an explosion, radiation in the building is a 1,000 times higher than normal, the plant exploded walls came flying off and was on fire, now two plants are in danger of a meltdown.

 

[southwind]

I'm confident that we will all start hearing from the Anti- Nuklear/Tree-Hugging activists via their iphone/ipad, very shortley ! Hey wait ! Are those devices wind or solar powered ?

 

[Kev3188]

The tragic 8.9 quake in Japan has brought pain and suffering to that part of the world. In the next weeks, countless stories will come out about a multitude of things related to the quake. My sympathies go out to anyone anywhere affected by this disaster.

One question remains......Nuclear power......I expect the anti-nuke crowd to seize upon this moment, particularly in the US, to attempt to drive a silver spike in the heart of nuclear power generation for a replacement of coal fired generation.

I must ask....what have been the largest earthquakes in countries with nuclear plants and what have been the results of these quakes?

Design of a nuclear power plant has to consider a multitude of variables including quakes, but how can engineering factor in surviving a 8.9 quake?

This has to be on the extreme end of engineering and I expect it to be somewhat hard to calculate.

Opinions?

This article has some pretty interesting info about the plants in Japan. At the end, there is a short recap of some other quakes in the region and how plants were (or weren't) affected.

 

[WorldTraveler]

It is a testament to the Japanese people who have faced more pain from nuclear war than any other country yet they have become a nation highly dependent on nuclear power.

It is an embarassment to the US as the country that developed nuclear weapons that we can't figure out how to manage nuclear powe while still building fossil fuel burning power plants that spew pollutants into the atmosphere (despite advancements in technology) while using irreiplacable fossil fuels (at least in a lifetime)

The story is not finished but indications are that despite catastrophic failures of the nuclear plants themselves, there has been (so far) no Chernobyl style release of radiation. Once again, let's keep in mind these plants have (so far) successfully contained the reactions despite one of the largest earthquakes in history and tsunamis to hit a developed country.

It should also be noted the nuclear plants in question are older than many of the participants in this discussion.

Nuclear power is a safe and logical option if it is built and managed correctly.

 

[Ms Tree]

I don't disagree. However this is not the role of the Federal Government.

Call it a flaw in our system but it's private enterprise free from government regulation that fuels the engine of innovation.

This is a basic difference between the Republicrats, Demicans and Libertarians.

I think this is exactly the roll of government. To help protect the people and preserve the union. To wait till it's too late and the country suffers is not the smart thing to do. As tech pointed out, private enterprise could not and would not have funded the moon shots and all the innovations that evolved from that. Then there are the interstate roads, FAA, to mention only a few things.
Private enterprise will not be able to get us off fossil fuels with out the help of the Fed. They do not have the capital and they cannot take the risk.

We know how to manage nuclear power but we do not want it due to all it's inherit problems. Where does Japan and France store their nuclear waste? Do you want it in your back yard? How much does it cost for a nuclear power plant? R&D on alternate power sources is all but stifled because the fossil fuel and nuclear power folks have too much money at stake. There are alternatives out there, we only have to find them.

 

[southwind]

I say store spent rods in California....................while we still own it !

 

[Veritas]

Without government meddling the free market will eventually lead us away form fossil fuel, where it leads is anyone's guess. Hydrogen is looking good too

Hydrogen is not a fuel. It is an energy storage medium, much like a battery.