Nuclear power...

[hiraku0n]

RBMK could have been 'worse' as you pointed out, however such reactor will never be built, certaintly not in the 'west'.

In a hypothetical nuclear accident of Gen3+ design, the damage is not to the environment but the public image of the nuclear industry. The only way to have another Chernobyl is perhaps to have Mag. 7+ (at 1000 gal) earthquake and a core breach and maybe... have the containment building blown with a bunker buster. For all to happen at once seems impossible.

[milofonbil]

We talk about reducing the dependence on foreign fuels, but nevertheless, we import 84% of our uranium. A large amount of the remainder comes from downblending nuclear weapons. Look into peak uranium. This will become more and more of a problem as the demand increases.

[Vegathetruth]

So if we used alternative resources like solar and wind power all the parts to make those would be imported as well and would cost 3 times more then uranium. So what you rather do import one item or import several? second. I dont know where you are getting your facts from but a large amount of uranium does NOT come from downblending nuclear weapons. Nuclear power is here to stay, its just a matter of time you liberals get over your crying game and accept it.

[milofonbil]

I am saying that nuclear power will not get you energy independent since we have to import most of the fuel. We should be building the solar and wind turbines domestically.

Of course it does. Obviously you have not read about the "Megatons to Megawatts" program. The USEC has elimintated 14,010 warheads as of December 2008.

[Vegathetruth]

Any energy we use whether its solar or wind is still not going to have independance. An example the new micro film that is used to generate energy from solar cost more then uranium and is made by Japan which they know we want it so what are they going to do? sky rocket the price. More independent companies are making this film but its shit compared to japans. Face it when it comes to the US we suck ass at technology. The only credible thing we have is the Ipod

[milofonbil]

Please learn the difference between "then" (A then B) and "than" (A is less than B).

You don't get my point.

[milofonbil]

9:15 Breeder reactors don't eliminate waste. They operate at a much higher temperature and actually cause far more waste.

"Recycling" is a reframe of the word reprocessing. Reprocessing using the PUREX process is still very expensive and the cycle is really not closed like "recycling" a pop can. The volume of waste is actually more and the overall radioactivity is less because it is diluted due to the acids involved, nothing more.

[milofonbil]

8:30 Japan's Monju blew up due to a sodium leak. Breeders mostly are not able to produce plutonium economically and they are really pretty dangerous to operate.

[milofonbil]

7:30 The USSR "accidentally" lost the health records of all Chernobyl disaster survivors. We will never know the real number of cancer victims. At TMI, they lost the wind direction readings and many radiation counters outside were pegged. This way, many downwinders dying of cancer can't claim anything. How convenient.

[Vegathetruth]

First off the entire world told the people at Chernobyl that they were insane the way they handled thier plants so i dont see how other nuclear plants should have the finger pointed. You need to remember that this was during the cold war and Russia didnt care what anyone thought or said. Also, everyone was tested within a 360 mile radious and everyone had as much radiation as a cat scan and EVERY single peice of uranium was accounted for after the accident. you need to do your homework

[milofonbil]

Yes, they had tested lots of civilians and 800,000 military used to clean up the mess. All the records were lost

The reactor's lid was blown off, and large amounts of radioactive material were released into the atmosphere. Uranium and other transuranics were scattered nearly the world over. There is no way that you could say or even believe that "every piece of uranium was accounted for".

Your statements are incredibly ridiculous. Seriously, I think you need to do your own homework

[Vegathetruth]

my bad when i said every single piece of uranium was accounted for i was talking about TMI

[milofonbil]

TMI cannot currently account for every curie of radioactive material it had. The numbers simply don't add up. If you are truly a UN inspector as you say you are, then you would know this.

[Vegathetruth]

I'm not a UN inspeactor, in fact the UN doesnt inspect power plants the NRC does I work for entergy as director of engineering. I worked at TMI after it was safe to go there. EVERY piece but 2 percent of uranium was account for. If you want to speak to Ted Sulivan who worked TMI ill be more then happy to give you his number just to prove my point. You need to educate yourself in engineering and know what the hell you are talking about instead of looking at google for all your answers.

[milofonbil]

And then I take it that you did not inspect a reprocessing plant in Japan, but merely visited.

You are 26 according to your profile and you are a Director of Engineering? You claim to have worked at TMI in the 80's. Right. Fix your profile. You have to be in your 50's.

"EVERY piece but 2 percent" OK ... thank you for conceding my point which was that not all Uranium was recovered.

I have a Masters Degree in Engineering. I certainly know how to look for credible and reliable sources.

[milofonbil]

One more question. How is it that you are a Director of Engineering and can get away with such atrocious spelling and English grammar? You consistently mix up "than" (like "easier said than done") and "then" (like "first came the clowns then the elephants"). Every engineering manager that I've ever worked with has demanded much more precision than that. A lack of precision can cause confusion that can eventually lead to an accident.

"ill be more then happy" --> "I'll be more than happy"

[Vegathetruth]

How is "self made billionaire" who does live in the US talk about issues that have no link to him? Or someone who doesnt even pay taxes? OR someone who has a companies website that looks like a blind 5 year old made? I think i am going to need a shovel for all the shit you feed me. Harvard grad my ass. First you disagree with me that power plant doesnt produce gigawatts then you agree with me after? Your a moron that tries to understand something that he doesn't.

[bogon5dot]

You really would give out your Vice President's phone number? I doubt you know the proper area code or his secretary's first name.

[milofonbil]

If you are now talking about TMI...WRONG

The fuel that did not melt was removed from the reactor. But about 1% remains.

August 1993: Dr. Michio Kaku, professor of Theoretical Nuclear Physics at CUNY, evaluated studies conducted or commissioned by the NRC on the amount of fuel left in TMI-2.

Kaku concluded: "The still unanswered questions are therefore: precisely how much uranium is left in the core, and how much uranium can collect in the bottom of the reactor to initiate re-criticality."

[milofonbil]

2:46 TMI did not work. It was an INES 5 disaster. Radioactive krypton gas was released into the atmosphere and detected in Albany, NY. 250 million plus gallons of radioactive mess were released into the Susquehanna river. It was nearly a complete meltdown. Luckily, the containment did not have to contain an explosion.

[milofonbil]

SL-1 did not have a containment because nothing in those days had a containment. We are running aging reactors right now that have substandard containment buildings. All the GE mark I and GE mark II and Westinghouse ICE reactors need to be scrapped. They could not contain a TMI accident.

[milofonbil]

1:30 Exclusion Zones ... we have many more exclusion zones in the world besides Chernobyl. Tokaimura, Japan had a criticality accident at a reprocessing plant. Mayak is another where another reprocessing plant blew up.

Certainly all areas where nuclear weapons were used - Trinity, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and any of the above-ground nuclear and under water weapons test areas are exclusion zones. There are nuclear submarines that are still radioactive.

[Vegathetruth]

Japan doesnt have reprocessing plants, they send thier plutonium to France to be reprocessed and have been for a long time now. Get your facts straight

[milofonbil]

I beg your pardon?

The Tokaimura accident is probably the third most serious accident in the history of nuclear power right behind Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. If you don't believe me, look up "Tokaimura nuclear accident" in Wikipedia.

Japan most certainly has its own reprocessing plants. Tokai is a small one. They are building a larger one in Rokkasho. If you don't believe me, look up "Rokkasho reprocessing plant" in Wikipedia.

Get *your* facts straight.

[Vegathetruth]

WEll concidering that i actually go to these plants and inspect them i would have more of an idea then you oh wise and great one. You are right Rokkasho is a reprocessing plant but its empty because Japan has a contract with France for 10 years. Tokaimura was small and if you read further down that page that you googled, you will see that 35 people where exposed with the same amount of radiation as a cat scan.

[milofonbil]

First you tell me "Japan doesnt have reprocessing plants" then you tell me "i actually go to these plants and inspect them".

If I did not know any better, I would not believe you. If you are really a UN inspector, you probably are using instruments I helped develop.

[milofonbil]

They were very lucky that there was no fire or explosion. There was no radioactivity spread around. The nearby town was nearly unaffected.

However, you fail to mention that two workers of the three workers that were mixing uranium in a vat died slow death due radiation exposure. One died 12 weeks later, another 7 months later.

[bogon5dot]

So Vega is a Director of Engineering at Entegy and does "Hans Blix" inspections in Japan in his spare time. Ha Ha Ha. Liar.

[Deathridesahorse2]

In your humble opinion would it be wise for Australia to use Nuclear Power? I personally don't see the point and wouldn't like Australia to be used as a Nuclear Waste dump....I see Australias anti-Nuclear position as a responsibility to help the world say "No" to Nuclear Power. I understand the bigger populations of the world may now have to rely upon Nuclear Power but fail to see why Australia must bury the waste. I think the proposal is based on false logic/a complete con...

[pmccarthy001]

Hi. Yes, I'm aware there have been numerous problems with nuclear reactors run by the US government. I believe people have even been killed. The US government appears much better at regulating the civilian nuclear power industry than regulating their own nuclear reactors.

[milofonbil]

It's not only nuclear reactors, but mining, nuclear refineries, enrichment plants, reprocessing plants, etc. Quite a few people have been killed.