Nuclear power is clean and safe

Those of us old enough should remember 3 Mile, Cherynobyl and even movies like The China Syndrome...

I don't think even most proponents of Nuclear Energy say it's Clean and Safe. Everyone knows it comes with risk and cost.

But as has been pointed out in this thread, most aveneues of providing energy for an industrial modern world come with risk and cost.

Anyway, The world has to deal with the choices, the costs and the reality. Right now? I just don't feel like a spirited debate over the dangers of nuculear energy. I'm more concerned with EVERYTHING that is happening in Japan, including but not limited to the realities of nuculear plants damaged in an earthquakes.

 

I live in Yokohama city, approx 200 miles from the plant.
Anyway, I was at home and felt the largest quake then in my life.

Ken@Japan

 

Because it generates profits.

Society as a whole doesn't profit, but we don't count things that way. All the drastic consequences you cite are what economists euphemistically refer to as '[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality"]externalities[/ame]'. They're not listed on the balance sheet, they're not part of the income statement, and they're not reflected in the cost of goods.

 

Ken- Thank you. Thats fairly big, but not huge as some. Appearance is so much different from US plants with the domed containment vessels. Take care.

 

There are 6 reactors at the plant.

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_I_Nuclear_Power_Plant"]Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

Unit Type[8] First criticality Electric power
Fukushima I – 1 [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_Water_Reactor"]BWR[/ame]-3 October 1970[7] 460 MW
Fukushima I – 2 BWR-4 July 18, 1974 784 MW
Fukushima I – 3 BWR-4 March 27, 1976 784 MW
Fukushima I – 4 BWR-4 October 12, 1978 784 MW
Fukushima I – 5 BWR-4 April 18, 1978 784 MWFukushima I – 6 BWR-5 October 24, 1979 1,100 MW

 

First, I too am thankful you and your family are OK.

But, it seems that you are very close to Shizuoka. I think that's where the Panasonic batteries are manufactured. Have you ever heard of the Panasonic EC-EV1260 battery? (Not the EC-FC1260 battery.) Is this EV1260 battery still manufactured in Japan by Panasonic?

Thanks for the help.

 

Not 1 single fatality in the US from a nuclear accident in 50 years, we use them on subs, ships and for spaceflight. Compare that with coal deaths, oil deaths, gas explosions, and what the CO2 is doing to the planet and well...you get the idea. Obama has tried - put lots of $ into solar, biodiesel, wind research and attempted to get a real electrical grid setup started and now the brain deads in congress are trying to stop all that. He appointed the first real scientist to run the dept of energy and attempted to kick start this whole process for the country - what did he get for it? Criticism from the vested interests who only want their $ flow to continue and the Screwedup Court who gave corporations bribing rights to congress. What a mess.

 

You're cutting your timeframe very close on the triple fatality in Idaho, 50 years, 2 months and 10 days ago. And with onlyt a brief search, I'm seeing another U.S. fatality 47 years ago.

Too many folks do forget these.

 

It's a little off-topic.
Though, I could not find it on their web site, so it seems discontinued.
However, there are lot of EC-EV1260 used ones in the market, which was reprocessed (refreshed).

Ken@Japan

 

Asking for ideas where the best web sites to track the Fukushima 1 situation? I am looking at BBC.

From there, it seems that the 1 and 2 reactor cores may have had partial fuel-rod melt, and that the 3 reactor may soon follow in this way. Radiological releases thus far seem to have been very low, and I hope they can stay that way. But it would be very generous to imagine that 123 could ever been restarted for power production. I guess they will be entombed when the crisis has passed.

These look like not-so-bad MOx reactors, and not-so-poorly managed over time. But heck, the seismic environment is very challenging there. Local reality should prevail. Maybe this is a better place for wind turbines? Maybe we can get Hitachi to fund a decent cost/benefit analysis?

Not to say that Westinghouse and GE should be totally off the hook. I am now thinking in new mode, exhorting all enegy companies (fossil, nuke, wind, PV, whatever) to spend a sliver of their profits to help identifying good energy futures. The govts. have mostly povertied out. Heavy subsidies to energy companies seems to have contributed something to that.

<- Opinion, Editorial, just sayin'. You don't agree; luvya, but what SHOULD we do? Same old?

 

Dwarfing all this energy stuff, on the local scale, is that 10,000 people remain unaccounted in Miyagi prefecture. Please help me pray them back to safety.

Then we can work on the other stuff.

 

It looks the wiki site is up-to-date and stable.
Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ken@Japan

 

Thanks Ken I shall be watching there as well. It does not seem to address the question of gamma emissions reported elsewhere. Seems to me that could not have happened unless some fuel-rod cladding has not already melted, and the primary containment has not been at least slightly compromised.

Preventing 123 from harming people is obviously the big thing now. I wonder if they might ever generate electricity again? Guessing that they could not.

 

The No.1 and No.3 plants are being cooled down by sea water.
I think it means death of the plant.

Ken@Japan

 

experts here are saying it is too early to know which way these plants are going.

 

Now, the wiki site has a separate page.
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_I_nuclear_accident"]Fukushima I nuclear accidents - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

Ken@Japan

 

Some sources were indicating that #1, which began commercial operation 40 years ago this month, was already slated to be shut down later this month. So the decision to use irreversible methods to cool it would have been very easy.

 

Ken- Thanks again for the design data, I will take a look at Wiki to see if I understand correctly.

 

I don't have to dig too far from a subconcious standpoint. But the first 3 times I read this post, I read it as....

"I think it means death of the planet".

 

That is not correct.
JP government already agreed to expand the operation 10 more years earlier this year.

Ken@Japan