It is a tragedy to watch all the special interest groups of oil, gas, coal, biodiesel, wind turbines, nukes, greenies, conservationists, shore-land owners and on and on vye for power while Rome burns and gets hotter.
The French, with 84 percent [of their] energy from nukes, probably are laughing at us!
— Earl Sunderhaus
Asheville
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…Except for all that silly, beret-wearing nuclear waste that cant be properly disposed of!…
The French always laugh at us, They love our French economic system recently employed by Paulson et.al.
What do they do with the waste? Is it sent to French Guyana or something?
They do not have low elec rates, don’t know what percent it is to their income though…It is Totally subsidized,something US doesn’t like to do but does anyhow with nukes an big oil
If we had subsidized wind and solar for yrs like oil and nukes we would have a more sustainable society by now. (Remember reagan? He cut solar and de- reg trains upon taking office, trains have fallen by the wayside …sidetracked, and the solar companies sold their patents to Japan and germany. Now if we want solar panels we buy them back from Siemans and Sanyo…)
‘…sidetracked…’ hahaha…
Why is it that people seem to forget that nuclear energy is totally unsustainable? I mean, I expect it from travelah-like conservatives (no offense, really) but people who think they are ‘progressive’ or whatever??? “Safe Nuclear” is what Biden kept referring to the other night in the debates. There is NO SUCH THING!!
davi,
Perhaps you could offer a commentary on your opinion that nuclear power lacks sustainability (hopefully from a source other than Greenpeace)?
There are a great many scientists throughout the world who find nuclear power to be sustainable on three crucial points: energy sources, environmental impact and economic viability.
As for disposal, remove the politics of the matter and the sites for proper disposal and handling already exist.
I’m sorry, trav. I fail to see how disposal of nuclear energy can be environmentaly friendly. Perhaps I am misled.
Could you post some links for me to check out.
And, no, I am NO Greenpeace fan. Sorry to disappoint.
The real solution is for our entire culture to power down a bit, not replace one unsustainable power source for another.
dave, your statement declared nuclear power was not a sustainable source. Nuclear waste can be safely disposed of. Whether it is deemed environmentally “friendly” depends entirely on your presumptions.
You still have not offered a commentary as to why nuclear power is not a sustainable energy source.
dave, I had previously responded to “davi”.
Dearest Trav-
In case you are truly confused, dave is davi is david is I. But let us not digress.
Yes. It is my understanding that there is no safe way to dispose of nuclear waste. Hence, my assertion that it is “Unsustainable”. Perhaps I am wrong in my understanding of Nuclear Waste. If you have other info, please post it.
Thank You.
Hey Trav, or anybody, what does France do with their Nuke waste?
I did a google search and came up with nada on the waste issue w/ Fr. nuke plants. Seems some is sequestered onsite..
A little aside here, Back in about ’78 or so, while at WCU our outing club had a offer to hike the mtns and get paid. We took it and got to hike all around Graham co and Swain and Cherokee and a little in Jackson. Anyhow our job was to collect sediment from creeks and tributaries and mark them on maps. It was rather fun and we had no idea who it was for or why. Turns out we helped determine parts per mill of uranium in our lovely wilderness. Luckily, so I heard, there was not a substantial amount discovered to warrant mining
nuvue,
Over @ AC-T topix this issue has been beat around several times in the past year and a half. There’s PLENTY of info on it. You can start here and see the world’s approach to processing spent fuel–what countries do it, how much capacity, the processes, etc. Get a cup of coffee, first. It’s a long, technical read.
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf69.html
Thanks Don,
It was a long read and some of it made me crosseyed, but it sounds like other countries are way ahead of us in the reprocessing of waste. Sure wish they would clean up Barnwell. And Rocky Flats has cost taxpayers billions. (almost as much as wallstreet costs)
You’re welcome, nuvue. We know how to do it, too. Our previous concern was how to treat the spent fuel rods so that they couldn’t be exploitable by terrorists. We’ve also solved that.
The bigger problem is the enviro-naysayers who, just as they’ve done to prevent new refining capacity, work extremely hard to thwart nuclear power from delivering the mega-terawatts of energy that it can.
Hey Don, I am an environmentalist, also a realist. We need the power and I am no longer against the smart use of Nukes. Coal is proving to be really what has screwed up the air. (I do love to see Grandfather mtn. from Mt. Mich. or Clingmans from Waterrock Knob). There has to be some give and take. I also want to see elec. cars made by Americans, and they will need clean elec. to run them….Solar and wind are available, but nobody seems to employ them, and wind is a NIMBY thing. Nukes also.(In Montford so is solar). We are going to have to make sacrifices and soon, and change some (all) of our energy gluttonous habits.