Energy Solutions for America

[cabidas]

Kaboooooom

[nicoreinke]

he talks shit, you now it!

[hawkermustang]

Blowbama is a dumb ass!!

[rllang01]

This debate never ends... the sparing between the pro-nuke & pro-renewable energy crowds goes on and on and on... in the mean time our current energy resources dwindle... The arguing points in this debate have become repetitive and useless... This debate is more than 30 years old and we have but barely nudged in any direction. Both sides need to make a consensus so that we can move forward. We do not have the luxury of time.

[riparious]

I would not let my CPA work on my car, or let my mechanic do my taxes. Why should we listen to an economist about the technical aspects of nuclear power? Would he raise his family next to Chernobyl?

Nuclear may seem powerful, but it is limited compared to proven, safe, and inexhaustible sources of energy such as geothermal, solar, wind, biomass, hydro, and title power.

[pourunejeunefemme]

Hey Milofonbil, if nuclear EPs are bad, then why does France emit less CO2 annually (by a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE margin) than any other G8 member state?

[milofonbil]

I wish that were the only problem that Reagan created. Some of the big ones are: 1) The war on the middle class and 2) Trickle-on economics.

Bush's home is passive-solar, it has PV panels for electricity and heated with geothermal. Meanwhile he cuts DOE funding for renewables.

I look towards Obama putting them back on. Even if they only supply pre-warming of the water for the hot water supply.

[milofonbil]

Jack Spencer you are such a liar. You used to work at Babcock & Wilcox and fully know better. Reprocessing takes spent fuel and splits it into three components: uranium, plutonium and a highly radioactive soup of everything else. The largest part, uranium can't be used because it's been contaminated with other isotopes of uranium. The radioactive soup still needs to be disposed. Only a small amount of plutonium is recovered. In fact, the process makes more waste due to the chemicals used.

[milofonbil]

(con't) Jack, why don't you tell them about the mess left behind in West Valley, New York. The reprocessing facility was shut down after only six years of operation. The $5.3 Billion cleanup effort is still ongoing.

Why don't you tell them about the costs for all this. The NAS estimated reprocessing and transmutation could easily cost $100 Billion to deal only with the current spent fuel, and said technical challenges likely will result in GNEP costing, rather than saving money.

[milofonbil]

(con't) Reprocessing still needs disposal of high level waste. It does not solve any problem besides helping your buddies with more cash extraction at the electric meter.

Why don't you tell them about the radon leaking out of the tailing piles at the mines.  It's giving a lot of people cancer? All of these are lies of omission. I don't know how you can live with yourself.

Nuclear energy is really DIRTY, it's EXPENSIVE and is really UNSAFE. You know this is true in the back of your mind.

[TheJustinReport]

US submarines and aircraft carriers are powered by nuclear power, yes nuclear power! It has 0 carbon footprint but contains a radioactive footprint.

[milofonbil]

Pro-nukes conveniently forget to tell you that mining, milling, the manufacture of the leaching acids, the gassification, the enrichment, the fuel fabrication, and all of the transportation processes are very hydrocarbon intensive. If you look at the whole cycle footprint, Nuclear power has a carbon footprint almost equal to natural gas.

Have you ever been to a mine? Think diesel powered loaders, earth movers and giant shovels.

It's not a zero carbon footprint. Just more lies of omission

[mmarshall76]

Imagine how much of an impact it would have on demand, and in turn on prices of crude if we stopped burning home heating oil, or running oil burning plants. We need a multi-pronged solution to our energy requirements (e.g. nuclear, synthetic lubricants for our vehicles, increased fuel efficiency standards, bio-fuels, and yes MORE DRILLING of our available resources).

[milofonbil]

OK .. consider that France and Japan have no more uranium left and have a huge investment in nuclear power. They have to IMPORT all of their uranium. Costly reprocessing makes sense to them. But why should we follow their footsteps. Uranium is a finite resource and running out. The US IMPORTs 84% now.

Why not look into renewable energy such as wind, solar and geothermal. Geothermal has loads of potential. You can drill to get at the same heat you need to boil water and drive a generator.

[mmarshall76]

The fact that Japan and France don't have sufficient domestic uranium stores is not indicative of potential similar issues in other countries, ours included. Google 'how much uranium does United States have' to get some good hits on big name studies indicating the U.S. has plenty on hand domestically to take care of us for quite some time to come.

Secondly, renewables aren't ready to use in mass. Wind comes & goes, tides wane, & geothermal isn't in mass production. We need real solutions now.

[milofonbil]

I Googled 'how much uranium does United States have' The only reserves you can really count are the ones in Wyoming and New Mexico that we know are out there. The rest is someone's guestimate. Claiming you can breed and reprocessing fall into the science fiction category because the electric power industry does not want to invest in building plants.

Many of the US mines are shut down because the low grade ores are really too expensive to mine. This is why the US imports 84% of its uranium.

[genpershing]

Oooohh, I can't wait to hear what that radical leftists will have to say about this one.

Heritage is correct, of course.

[milofonbil]

OK. here you go. Show me one cost effective reprocessing or "recycling" plant. Just one. Show me where the cleanup costs are included in that economic study. Show me one that has less waste than you started with. Show me one plant that reduces the risk of proliferation of the produced plutonium. Show me things that are working right now, not from some science fiction or future show. BTW ... did you get your meterless nuclear electricity yet? This is a huge cash extraction scam.

[joojoojuice]

It's sad we gave up on such a useful resource. I hope we can learn to accept reality and start to rethink nuclear energy.

[milofonbil]

You are so right, a truly Christian President, a nuclear engineer - President Carter warned us all.

Things have not changed. We still have an energy crisis although Reagan took the solar panels down off of the White House and canceled all of the alternative energy projects at our national labs. We could have been on top of renewable energy. But now we get more of the same - more nuclear mess from people that like maximum cash extraction and give corporate welfare to oil companies.