Posted on 03/31/2011 4:37:27 PM PDT by Kaslin
The events in Japan are disastrous and heartbreaking, but they should not be used to stop us from safely utilizing nuclear energy for the benefit of our nation.
As a senior member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, I am a strong advocate for safe and clean nuclear technology to meet the energy needs of our growing nation.
Research and development makes technologies safer and more effective. Now is not the time to abandon nuclear energy, as our allies in Germany are doing. Now is the time to finally make the move to newer, safer nuclear technologies that better avoid the inherent risks in any energy production facility.
The specific failure at the Fukushima nuclear power plants in Japan is due to the inability to circulate cooling water due to lack of power to operate the pumps. This reactor was constructed 40 years ago and subsequent nuclear developments have created a safe, passive cooling system that operates without the need for pumps.
This is just one of the advances in safety that protect the American people, and others around the world, who rely on nuclear energy.
The current situation at Fukushima should not turn us away from nuclear energy, just as problems with the first pressurized aircraft didn't turn us away from commercial aviation, and other setbacks didn't derail other advancements. Unbeknownst to most, we are on the verge of safe nuclear reactors reactors which cannot melt down or release radiation being available for all humanity.
The first electricity-generating nuclear reactors were created in the 1950s. These designs were refined, and construction of Generation II reactors ran through the 1990s. Generation III reactors have incorporated all of the safety lessons learned in 50 years of how to operate the same basic reactor design.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
ITER a gruop in France working on fusion - 10 years away. It’s the answer - in the mean time lets use our carbon.
“On The Verge Of Safe Reactors That Will Revolutionize World”
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Just like all those new inventions od the 40s and 50s that were going to reduce the common man,s workload to mere minutes per week, and allow him, too, a life of leisure...
Yeah, yeah. Fusion power has been “ten years away” for the past 35 years or so.
Fermi III is supposed to have a passive cooling system that draws cooling water by convection. (No moving parts or pumps)
From what I’ve been reading, many of the new designs use a lot less nuclear material which makes them saver based on that alone.
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LOL. It was in fact just around 35 years ago when I was working on some drawings of a Tokomac reactor for some PhD from Princeton and he told me it would be "ten years or less"; until they had that puppy perfected.
I was just telling that story a lunch today, and then I spot your post. You must have dealt with the same academic research hustlers. Seems they are always just on the 'verge' -- if we just keep the research grants flowing, they will get it any day now. ;~))
Awesome link.
Post #6 ping.
Maybe our kids can have their own nuclear generating plant in their basements.
Thanks for a great post. I believe that’s the first thorium post I’ve seen since the Japanese disaster. The U.S. should be leading the way in its development.
I originally liked the pebble bed reactors but the more I read about them made me nervous.
They run pretty hot and if air gets into the system there’s a danger of igniting the graphite pebbles the nuclear material is embedded in.
The maximum standard load allowed on interstate highways is 80,000 pounds. At 500 Tons (1,000,000 pounds), this reactor is no mere truckload.
Nah, I just have a clear memory of such things. (I’m in pure mathematics, myself, though I’ve collaborated off and on with a fellow who’s working on quantum gravity.)
fusion - 10 years away.
With Obama - “our kids” will be living in our basements or we may all go back to caves with camp fires.
The last generation BWR reactor weighs about 400 tons and produces about 1,200 megawatts of power.
“The maximum standard load allowed on interstate highways is 80,000 pounds. At 500 Tons (1,000,000 pounds), this reactor is no mere truckload.”
With the right permits and trucking equipment you can move twice that amount.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D47Ga9NVtY
Will the spent fuel rod pools also have passive cooling?
bttt
I understand that. It's all about weight per tire. My point was about the depiction, not whether it was portable. In cases like this, expressing due consideration at every step is a key point in selling the idea.
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