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Nuke power sucks...

Posted by orange blossom special on Wed Jan 23 14:51:54 2008

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...too much water. Shuts down.

Nuclear reactors across the Southeast could be forced to throttle back or temporarily shut down later this year because drought is drying up the rivers and lakes that supply power plants with the awesome amounts of cooling water they need to operate.

Utility officials say such shutdowns probably wouldn't result in blackouts. But they could lead to shockingly higher electric bills for millions of Southerners, because the region's utilities could be forced to buy expensive replacement power from other energy companies.

Already, there has been one brief, drought-related shutdown, at a reactor in Alabama over the summer.

"Water is the nuclear industry's Achilles' heel," said Jim Warren, executive director of N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network, an environmental group critical of nuclear power. "You need a lot of water to operate nuclear plants." He added: "This is becoming a crisis."


Good thing that I'm in Florida, where they've been yelling draught at us daily for 8+ years now!

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(279840)

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Re: Nuke power sucks...

Posted by orange blossom special on Wed Jan 23 14:54:56 2008, in response to Nuke power sucks..., posted by orange blossom special on Wed Jan 23 14:51:54 2008.

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oops, forgot the link-o

And here's one this week about how they have to flush the pipes and dump the water in the street, while they put everyone on draught cutbacks.
Sp times

The Tampa Bay area is under strict water restrictions.

Residents can water outside only once a week, on specific days designed to regulate daily use. But don't think that local governments are bound by the same rules.

Take a walk in the southern end of St. Petersburg during the week and you could find streets that look more like swimming holes.

There, two or three times a week, fire hydrants are uncorked and water gushes forth, full steam ahead into the middle of the streets, where it eventually flushes into the bay.

The city disposes of 30-million gallons of drinkable water this way every month. That's enough to fill 1,200 swimming pools.

And St. Petersburg is not alone. Several cities and counties throughout the state, including Pinellas, Hillsborough and Tampa, flush millions of gallons of water on a weekly basis.

Story forgot to add they spent 2 billion bucks to upgrade the systems over the last 1 or 2 decades.

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(279842)

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Re: Nuke power sucks...

Posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Jan 23 15:14:11 2008, in response to Nuke power sucks..., posted by orange blossom special on Wed Jan 23 14:51:54 2008.

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There are designs for nuclear reactors which don't rely on a lot of water to keep them cool. Little incentive to spend money building them now, though.

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(279846)

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Re: Nuke power sucks...

Posted by Mitch45 on Wed Jan 23 15:27:55 2008, in response to Re: Nuke power sucks..., posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Jan 23 15:14:11 2008.

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Do the reactors require fresh water or could sea water be used? We seem to have a lot of that.

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(279847)

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Re: Nuke power sucks...

Posted by AlM on Wed Jan 23 15:28:44 2008, in response to Nuke power sucks..., posted by orange blossom special on Wed Jan 23 14:51:54 2008.

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But they could lead to shockingly higher electric bills for millions of Southerners, because the region's utilities could be forced to buy expensive replacement power from other energy companies.

But without the nuclear power they'd be paying those shockingly higher bills all the time, not just during a water shortage.


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(279853)

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Re: Nuke power sucks...

Posted by orange blossom special on Wed Jan 23 15:36:09 2008, in response to Re: Nuke power sucks..., posted by AlM on Wed Jan 23 15:28:44 2008.

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Unless they had other plants instead of just the nukes to pick up the slack. They only pay more because they buy from outside.
It's not a chicken egg question.

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(279856)

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Re: Nuke power sucks...

Posted by AlM on Wed Jan 23 15:41:31 2008, in response to Re: Nuke power sucks..., posted by orange blossom special on Wed Jan 23 15:36:09 2008.

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They only pay more because they buy from outside.

No, they pay more because electricity from oil fired plants costs much more.


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(279863)

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Re: Nuke power sucks...

Posted by Spider-Pig on Wed Jan 23 16:08:11 2008, in response to Re: Nuke power sucks..., posted by orange blossom special on Wed Jan 23 15:36:09 2008.

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So they should built power plants that they otherwise wouldn't use just to use in the event of an occasional water shortage?

Your ignorance of business is nothing short of staggering.

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(279864)

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Re: Nuke power sucks...

Posted by Spider-Pig on Wed Jan 23 16:09:05 2008, in response to Nuke power sucks..., posted by orange blossom special on Wed Jan 23 14:51:54 2008.

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Good thing that I'm in Florida, where they've been yelling draught at us daily for 8+ years now!

What kind of draught? Military or beer?

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(279865)

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Re: Nuke power sucks...

Posted by orange blossom special on Wed Jan 23 16:11:46 2008, in response to Re: Nuke power sucks..., posted by Spider-Pig on Wed Jan 23 16:08:11 2008.

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If you're going to build something you can't use 12 months of the year, what business advantage do you gain from paying a higher price to someone else and become a third party?
Why not build things that you can sell full-time instead of running a deficit and losing money?

You must've went to the george bush school of economics.

"So they should built power plants that they otherwise wouldn't use "
You mean like these nuclear plants that they already built? The south runs on natural gas and coal for a reason.

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(279870)

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Re: Nuke power sucks...

Posted by Spider-Pig on Wed Jan 23 16:19:16 2008, in response to Re: Nuke power sucks..., posted by orange blossom special on Wed Jan 23 16:11:46 2008.

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If you're going to build something you can't use 12 months of the year, what business advantage do you gain from paying a higher price to someone else and become a third party?
Why not build things that you can sell full-time instead of running a deficit and losing money?


A severe drought that shuts down a power plant is a rare event.

You mean like these nuclear plants that they already built? The south runs on natural gas and coal for a reason.

That reason is because people are ignorant of nuclear power and its safety record. Nuclear power is something we should expand, not contract.

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(279872)

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Re: Nuke power sucks...

Posted by orange blossom special on Wed Jan 23 16:21:31 2008, in response to Re: Nuke power sucks..., posted by Spider-Pig on Wed Jan 23 16:19:16 2008.

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*A severe drought that shuts down a power plant is a rare event.*

Rare in the Northeast. Remember a regional thing called water wars....

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(279877)

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Re: Nuke power is fantastic.

Posted by RonInBayside on Wed Jan 23 16:32:18 2008, in response to Nuke power sucks..., posted by orange blossom special on Wed Jan 23 14:51:54 2008.

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But it has limitations like anything else. It's the single safest mode of truly large scale energy production we have.

"Jim Warren, executive director of N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network"

If I practiced medicine the way he "practices" science and engineering, I'd be in prison and the warden would have long ago melted down the only known key to my cell.

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(279887)

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Re: Nuke power sucks...

Posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Jan 23 16:51:26 2008, in response to Re: Nuke power sucks..., posted by Spider-Pig on Wed Jan 23 16:19:16 2008.

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That reason is because people are ignorant of nuclear power and its safety record. Nuclear power is something we should expand, not contract.

Zero greenhouse gas emissions ...

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(279890)

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Re: Nuke power sucks...

Posted by orange blossom special on Wed Jan 23 16:55:47 2008, in response to Re: Nuke power sucks..., posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Wed Jan 23 16:51:26 2008.

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Unless you use the LRT and ethanol slander tactic.

It uses greenhouse gases to get the fuel, to ship it, to ship it to another place when it's spent, and to build the plant, and to transport the workers.

Why are those valid concerns for trains and ethanol plants, but not these plants?

Besides, hasn't the price of fuel quadrupled in the last 7 years?

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(279905)

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Re: Nuke power sucks...

Posted by RonInBayside on Wed Jan 23 17:21:25 2008, in response to Re: Nuke power sucks..., posted by orange blossom special on Wed Jan 23 16:11:46 2008.

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"If you're going to build something you can't use 12 months of the year,"
As Pig pointed out, the current situation is incredibly rare (I'm not aware of any previous incidents quite like this). And any other technology you'd use would be available fewer than the nukes.

Solar: No production at least six months out of the year (night time, remember?) and usually even less than that, given cloud cover and so on.

Wind: Depends on where you build and how much wind you get

Fossil fuel: Availability rates average no better than 70-75%; a typical nuclear plant these days sees 90+% availability rates and capacity factors. It's not even close.

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(279917)

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Re: Nuke power sucks...

Posted by Spider-Pig on Wed Jan 23 17:45:26 2008, in response to Re: Nuke power sucks..., posted by orange blossom special on Wed Jan 23 16:55:47 2008.

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Ignorance. Coal needs to be transported too, and much more often and in greater quantities.

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(279925)

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Re: Nuke power sucks...

Posted by orange blossom special on Wed Jan 23 18:17:29 2008, in response to Re: Nuke power sucks..., posted by Spider-Pig on Wed Jan 23 17:45:26 2008.

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No kidding.

Did you know that LRT's cause increased congestion and lowers air quality?

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(279926)

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Re: Nuke power sucks...

Posted by orange blossom special on Wed Jan 23 18:19:40 2008, in response to Re: Nuke power sucks..., posted by RonInBayside on Wed Jan 23 17:21:25 2008.

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Nuclear needs to be shut down a few days before a hurricane passes over it.

Those giant airraid sirens they line up and down the road gives me the willies. But you wouldn't understand since you think random crime is worse than having that type of thing go off 9-50 times per day(Sderot).

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(279944)

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Re: Nuke power sucks...

Posted by RonInBayside on Wed Jan 23 19:11:36 2008, in response to Re: Nuke power sucks..., posted by orange blossom special on Wed Jan 23 18:19:40 2008.

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"Nuclear needs to be shut down a few days before a hurricane passes over it."
That's if the hurricane passes over it and depends on what strength it is. Contrary to popular belief, nuclear plants in Florida and along the Gulf Coast do not get shut down ahead of every single hurricane.

"Those giant airraid sirens they line up and down the road gives me the willies."

I lived in Miami for two years. I had air raid sirens there too. I didn't reach for my Depends every time they wailed.

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(279979)

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Re: Nuke power sucks...

Posted by Orange Blossom Special on Wed Jan 23 21:11:05 2008, in response to Re: Nuke power sucks..., posted by RonInBayside on Wed Jan 23 19:11:36 2008.

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IN all fairness, I think they're adding them north of Orlando for tornados. That's one thing I glue my eyes on the TV radar for. Two or so on both sides in the last month. One destroyed a prison annex.

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(280049)

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Re: Nuke power sucks...

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Jan 24 00:28:05 2008, in response to Re: Nuke power sucks..., posted by Spider-Pig on Wed Jan 23 16:09:05 2008.

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Probably a window draught.

Or it could be a draught horse . . .

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