Nuclear Powerplants

[nichomach]

Not having a go but...Please do not compare Russian nuclear power plants doing experiments with the backup systems turned off to British nuclear power stations that follow strict safety proceedure and are inspected and operated properly.

With respect, it's mistaken to assume that our own nuclear industry doesn't come up with equally stupid ideas. Whilst I was living in Aberystwyth, the Trawsfynydd nuclear reactor was coming up for decommissioning. Prior to this, the geniuses who ran it wanted to run a heat dissipation test by, wait for it, turning off the cooling system, scramming the reactor and seeing if the heat would dissipate naturally. Sound familiar? They were only prevented when everyone in North- and Mid-Wales went absolutely monkey-poo at the idea.

[midzt]

As a lot of people have said, nuclear power is safe and its power should be exploited, but the majority of the public still have major misconcpetions of it.


Anyway, I remember reading somewere that Honda are planning to mass produce solar panels, which would dramatically decrease the cost of them, and should make them more affordable for households. This would therefore mean less power needs to come from the national grid.

Also, as i side note, I presonally wouldn't mind a wind turbine near me as I tihink they give the area a reputation for clean engery and conservation of the environment. I tihink they look alright as it goes. Just me tho...

[EvilWeevil]

Chernobyl was caused by stupidity and the pressure from the Soviet government on the nuclear enegy authority to make progress. In today's climate, I'm all for nuclear power.

[badass]

As a lot of people have said, nuclear power is safe and its power should be exploited, but the majority of the public still have major misconcpetions of it.


Anyway, I remember reading somewere that Honda are planning to mass produce solar panels, which would dramatically decrease the cost of them, and should make them more affordable for households. This would therefore mean less power needs to come from the national grid.

Also, as i side note, I presonally wouldn't mind a wind turbine near me as I tihink they give the area a reputation for clean engery and conservation of the environment. I tihink they look alright as it goes. Just me tho...

As long as you dont mind the screeching noise they make aswell

[midzt]

As long as you dont mind the screeching noise they make aswell

Yhe i supposed lol. I don't see the problem people have with off shore ones tho.

[autopilot]

As long as you dont mind the screeching noise they make aswell

Modern ones are virtually silent. I have stood next to a few and you could hardly hear them.

[kirkabus]

I used to live near a load of windmills and they looked fine--granted they where along a pier. I can imagine that in some locations they wouldn't be that ideal but that is the price may have to pay. I'd prefer to see if we could harness our power from renewables however the realist in me knows that we will probably go nuclear

[0iD]

I design power station cooling water intakes, & tbh the workmanship on some of the nuclear plants in the middle & far east leaves a lot to be desired

[RedPutty]

Nuclear waste is a problem, we can't even handle what we have.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3877343.stm
The thing about nuclear energy is it seems cheap now but there is decades of cost in the future.

We should use fuels that are renewable and dont destroy our environment and wallets and that of our descendents.

[herulach]

Nuclear waste is a problem, we can't even handle what we have.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3877343.stm
The thing about nuclear energy is it seems cheap now but there is decades of cost in the future.

We should use fuels that are renewable and dont destroy our environment and wallets and that of our descendents.

Name one. Its alvery well spouting stuff like that, but what exactly is there? Wind is crap, AS a consertavie estimate the uk needs around 40000MW, considering the best wind tubines available are 6MW in ideal conditions, thats nigh on 6500, going full whack. Say its windy half the time, that means we need 13000 turbines, where would they all go? It isnt sunny enough for solar power, and hydro electricity hasnt got the capacity. Ill readily admit we ould quite easily cut consumption, but saying we should get everything from removeables is frankly dross.

[badass]

Yhe i supposed lol. I don't see the problem people have with off shore ones tho.

Me neither as long as it is planned and executed properly.

TBH I think huge turbines in large industrial areas looks
If you head up the A13 towards docklands from the M25 there are 3 of them and TBH I think they improve the looks

[badass]

Nuclear waste is a problem, we can't even handle what we have.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3877343.stm
The thing about nuclear energy is it seems cheap now but there is decades of cost in the future.

We should use fuels that are renewable and dont destroy our environment and wallets and that of our descendents.

Really
So which renewable sources should we use then?
Have you read the article? The problem there is mainly from the 60's FFS. Most of the rest of it is intermediate waste.
Do you even know what intermediate waste is?

[autopilot]

Personally, i think the way forward myself is to breed an army of genetically modified giant hamsters.

[Trippledence]

Personally, i think the way forward myself is to breed an army of genetically modified giant hamsters.

You cant make a potato clock out of hamserts, i've tryed.

[RedPutty]

Really
The problem there is mainly from the 60's FFS.

And I dont want our waste to still be a problem in 2040

Do you even know what intermediate waste is?

A few posts ago you said only 2 bus fulls of nuclear waste had been created in 40 years when it is more than a thousand and it is still sitting around , so i'm not sure you are one to be questioning me What are we going to do with that waste, what about the radioactive pond of waste that the EU has taken the UK to court over? These are the kinds of problems we are storing up by using nuclear energy.

Say its windy half the time, that means we need 13000 turbines, where would they all go?

Where they are needed and best used. Electricity using nimbys will complain but hey ho.

It isnt sunny enough for solar power

Of course it is, i'm not sure why you think it isnt, or maybe you have a restricted idea of what solar power is.

and hydro electricity hasnt got the capacity.

What do you mean by hasnt got the capacity, we dont have enough water? We are surrounded by the stuff.

The truth is there are a whole raft of renewable resources that could support us fine but we would rather choose the cheap and dirty short term option.

[herulach]

And I dont want our waste to still be a problem in 2040

And with proper modern processing it wouldnt be, also, building a building to survive 40 years is easy

Where they are needed and best used. Electricity using nimbys will complain but hey ho.

Whats a nimby?
My point was 13000 tubines is a huge number, there simply isnt adequate space for them all, without doing ridiculous stuff like tearing up the national parks to put them in, consider that the area taken up by these things (including the ground they overhang) is just about the size of a football pitch, assume london uses ~10% (has about 8% of the populace +commuters) of that power, you think theres room there for 1300 football pitches + safety clearance area + substations in London?

Of course it is, i'm not sure why you think it isnt, or maybe you have a restricted idea of what solar power is.

Solar power could not possibly supply the Uks power needs, it would go a fair way toward it if we all had solar cells for rooves, but that would require massive private investment, which lets face it, isnt going to happen.

What do you mean by hasnt got the capacity, we dont have enough water? We are surrounded by the stuff.

As in we havent got enough water moving fast enough, The BHA reckon theres scope for generating about 4000MW by water power in the whole country.

The truth is there are a whole raft of renewable resources that could support us fine but we would rather choose the cheap and dirty short term option.

Nuclear power is incredibly clean once youve got the uranium out of the ground, storage for 50 or 60 years is a complete non issue, as i said before, building to last that long isnt hard.