Posted on 10/19/2009 8:31:25 AM PDT by Willie Green
PARIS — From the time the world’s first commercial nuclear power plants were switched on in the late 1950s, installed generating capacity rose rapidly over two decades. It leveled off in the 1980s as new building programs were scrapped in the wake of the accident at Three Mile Island, among other factors.
Contractors generally designed plants to last for 40 years — a standard enshrined in the United States in the adoption by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or N.R.C., of a 40-year licensing regime.
A large part of the world’s installed nuclear power capacity is now coming to the end of that designed life span.
Caught between approaching retirement deadlines and public opposition to new plants, industry operators are pushing to extend the life of their plants to 60 or even 80 years — and this despite problems of premature aging of major components that have already obliged many to replace their plants’ steam generators at heavy capital expense.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
So the left makes it impossible to build new plants, then rails against the age factor of those in service. Sounds just about right for these professional hypocrites.
Too bad we can’t force the people who oppose new nuclear plants pay 10x more for their power.
Another great way for the libs to guarantee third world status for the US. Without new nukes coming on line, we will be absolutely and irretrievably cornered. We won’t even have a bridge to the imaginary world of wind and solar.
These are dark times. I don’t see how the multi-front damage being inflicted upon the US will not last a decade or more.
If the "establishment" had of rejected the lunatic anti-nuke crowd instead of kissing their asses years ago, this would not be a problem today, would it?
If one of these old nuke plants blow up and kills a bunch of people, we can trace the blame right down to the likes of Ms. Fonda and her anti nuke lunatics.
We are so screwed....
“It leveled off in the 1980s as new building programs were scrapped in
the wake of the accident at Three Mile Island, among other factors.”
“...other factors.”
What a nice name for enviro-wackos that decide to stop nuclear power
after one NON-fatal cockup.
But I guess if I applied my faith in Jimmy Carter (unbelievably,
an officer in Admiral Rickover’s “nuclear navy”) regarding his
technological prowess...I’d understand their concerns!!!
But now things are (and have been for decades) a terrible embarrasment.
H-LL, FRANCE leads in civilian nuclear power.
For that alone, our national shame should propel us to show the French
a better way to go nuclear for civilian electrical power generation.
But with Obama and his minions in the enviro-wacko and NIMBY
groups...I fear it ain’t gonna’ happen.
They really are duplicitous bastards. They litigate the hell out of license applications, thereby driving up the cost and lengthening the time, and then complain about both the high cost and long time it takes to bring capacity online. They get their ally Obama to trash Yucca Mountain, then they say “we don’t have anyplace to put the waste”. They get any plans for centralized storage to be shelved, then complain that the plants are “terrorist targets” because they still have used fuel onsite. Intervenors are skilled at creating problems and then complaining about them.
But I guess if I applied my faith in Jimmy Carter (unbelievably, an officer in Admiral Rickover’s “nuclear navy”) regarding his technological prowess...I’d understand their concerns!!!
The Peanut Farmer never served aboard a nuclear sub.
He applied for the program, and took a non-credit introductory course in nuclear reactor power at Union College. But he resigned his commission when his father died.
That's the extent of his "expertise".
They want us dead.
Seriously.
Upon the death of his father, James Earl Carter, Sr., in July 1953, Lieutenant Carter immediately resigned his commission, and he was discharged from the Navy on October 9, 1953.[12][13]
This cut short his nuclear powerplant operator training, and he was never able to serve on a nuclear submarine, since the first boat of that fleet, the USS Nautilus (SSN-571), was launched on January 17, 1955, over a year after his discharge from the Navy.[14]
-Wikipedia
Quinn’s First Law....Liberalism always generates the exact opposite of its stated intent. All nuke plant construction and innovation came to a halt when The China Syndrome got those Oscar nominations, which almost guarantees that those pre-existing will suffer the effects of age and have issues.
Gee, I wonder what france, germany, japan and the UK will do with all their aging plants,, build new ones, maybe?
Nuke plants can't blow up, they could possibly melt down but even that is not a large possibility. 3 Mile Island never harmed a single soul, the safeguards worked as intended. However, coupled with the accident in Chernobyl, the greenies used the accident, the MSM blew it way out of proportion, Hollywood released "The China Syndrome" and thus politicians caved in.
We are not facing danger from these aging plants except for the fact they will may be taken off line and deprive us of much needed electricity, especially after all the greens buy electric cars.
Nobody has caught on to the fact they keep calling the turbines “steam generators”. Why generate steam when that’s the job of the BWR - Boiling Water Reactor, also known as the nuclear reactor.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.