Posted on 06/30/2009 11:07:55 AM PDT by SolidWood
"Bro" what you saw was coal dust from the mills not particulate from the stack.
The mill was at the spur line a half mile away from the plant. I doubt the dust could make it THAT far, and if it did, it's still particulate in the air that people are breathing.
"Children that live near coal plants have something along the lines of 300-400% the typical rate of asthma and breathing-related illnesses." This stat came from a doctor of electrical engineering at USF. You don't have to believe me(and I suppose it's possible that it is wrong), but you did ask where I got it.
The size is about right, the technology is very different. Naval vessels use water cooled reactors, because they are in an ocean, and are potential military targets. This reactor, uses liquid metal as a coolant, very safe on land, and much more efficient.
Or any place that is interested in disconnecting itself from a large national energy grid...
The enviroweenies will scream to high heaven and it will take 20 years to get the things built, if ever.
These reactors are a great idea, IMO, too bad about all the legal hurdles though.
Oh yes, I knew that. I was talking more about the size and output. Thanks!
http://www.nuscalepower.com/
This company is an offshoot of the nuclear engineering program at Oregon State University, one of the best nuclear engineering schools in the US.
Even for a larger city, twenty or thirty or fifty of these spread out all over the place would be a good way to run a grid. massively de-centralized and fault tolerant. Any one or two of them could drop off the grid from time to time without affecting the overall grid.
If those pebble-bed reactors are ready for prime-time then it's even better.
I'll take one and split the profits from my neighbors with Toshiba. The water table might be a problem in my yard, however.
Must be a pretty damn old 'construction supervisor' since no new coal-fired plants have come on line for Alabama Power since the early 1970s.
You sure he didn't mean a refurb project that included a new pollution controls, and not building an entirely new plant?
And I am very sure that your 300-400% increase in asthma downwind of a coal plant totally false. If someone told you that, they were full of it. There is no evidence to support anything like that.
The mill was at the spur line a half mile away from the plant.
By the Coal Yard by any chance?
"soot-spewing"?...It's been decades since that was the issue.
I’ve always liked the idea of using coal to liquids and keeping nuclear for electricity.
Alaska also had/has some radioisotope thermoelectric generators (AKA as SNAP) units
One at Fairway Rock custody of the NAVY - pulled 1995.
About 170 miles north of Fairbanks, the U.S. Air Force stands guard over a cluster of relatively small radioactive generators, while officials review ways to remove the devices to assuage concerns of nearby residents.
The units are called radioisotope thermoelectric generators, or RTGs, and they are in storage at a site known as Burnt Mountain. That’s about 50 miles from the native villages of Venetie and Arctic Village on a 108-acre military site within the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge.
“It’s the northernmost (military) seismic facility in Alaska, and the one facility of seven in Alaska that had used RTGs,” said Captain Brad Jessmer, chief of public relations at Eielson Air Force Base.
Folks are throwing fits over sealed, small scale units (wished I had one in my yard BTW) - I really doubt approvals needed from the FedGov will be forthcoming for any larger plants.
Post #16 - Wow. Just wow.
I've read that Russia has floating nuclear power plants on their Northern coast.
I'm not convinced yet on nuclear. Every plant is a terrorist target, as is the waste they generate.
I am also not confident the waste will always be handled properly. It will be with us a long time, and I am not sure of government's ability to deal with it in the future, especially during times of social instability.
“I’ve always liked the idea of using coal to liquids...
The Nazis used this technique to run their tanks in WWI and South Africa generated 50,000 barrels of oil per day the same way during apartheid.
Both were done strictly out of neccessity, as both had less access to oil resources as needed.
Proven technology, but the cost is fairly steep. No where is it done right now because of cost. There is no reason to do so unless the process is competitive with alternatives in cost. I’d say keep it as the alternative until such time that it is. We have lots of coal.
We also have excess natural gas. If we wish to turn something into liquids for engines, this is a better alternative, cheaper, abundant, and much less of a pollutant. Known process that works.
“...and keeping nuclear for electricity.”
Amen. This is the best way to use nuclear power, non-polluting and will last thousands of years. Just ask the French.
“I’m not convinced yet on nuclear. Every plant is a terrorist target, as is the waste they generate.
I am also not confident the waste will always be handled properly. It will be with us a long time, and I am not sure of government’s ability to deal with it in the future, especially during times of social instability.”
You identified the two main components of addressing the nuclear option for power generation:
How to protect it and what to do with waste.
Both are possible to address and can be addressed.
As far as terrorism, we have lots and lots of nuclear facilities around that were in place far in advance of terrorism rearing its ugly head. How many have been attacked here or elsewhere in the world?
Waste storage is not the real issue as Yucca Mountain is perfect to keep it safe. The issue is the transportation of the waste to get there. Problem, but addressable.
should be WWII
Damn, when is the backyard version going to be available? I don’t want one, I *need* one.
Backyard solutions would be to take solid waste from nuclear power plants, seal them in lead, glass shells, with a overcoat of stainless steel and use them as geothermal generators. Dang things will be physicaly hot for generations. Only problem is idiot Bin Laudin types.
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