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03/27/2009

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Agreed.

There are reasonable concerns about how the plants are run and where they should be situated: NIMBY will rear its head, and people are just going to have to deal with it.

There are reasonable concerns about where the spent fuel is stored: Yucca Mountain has too many problems, and my vote is to store it onsite for now.

There is also some interesting discussion about the total cost of building the plants, if you look at the energy required to mine and process the fuel and other materials: this article on The Oil Drum is a good starting point.

Still, given the alternatives (coal, which ironically releases a lot of radiation when burned, or just ignoring the issue, which has been the modus operandi for far too long), nuclear can get us through the next century.

I think I have read somewhere (cannot remember where exactly) that current generation nuclear power plants produce so little waste that in effect – if we were to build and use those – most nuclear waste humans will ever produce has already been produced. Current nuclear power plants will add little to that.

We already have to solve the waste problem (if we want to or not), and if we find a good solution it shouldn’t be such a huge problem to store a few more tons of waste.

Ah, now I remember, I didn’t read it, I heard it: It was a Skeptoid podcast episode, a pretty great podcast about skepticism (the good kind of skepticism, not the conspiracy lunatics kind) and critical thinking.

I propose the nuclear waste be stored under the infield at Churchill Downs.

Finally, a sensible post! Congrats. We should be dotting the map with nukes, which, by the way, would truly be a stimulative investment as opposed to the fraud bill the Dems have put forth.

By the way Richard, I'm curious as to what the supposed problems with Yucca Mountain are. Please, do tell. To be honest, we should be stacking that mutha full of nuke waste and managing it in a safe, secure environment.

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