NUCLEAR NONSENSE: Interview # 1 - Harvey Wasserman

[powerease]

The inherent problems Wasserman speaks to regarding the nuclear industry were known by key industry insiders and regulators back in the 1950s. See the BBC documentary series, "Pandora's Box", segment titled, "A is for Atom".

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[gamble180]

If we could harness the force that uglied Harvey's teeth, we could power the world for centuries.

[derman077]

What happens if Earth gets hit by something and the sky gets darkened? It may be a combination we need. Wind Solar Geothermal Nuclear Over-unity if possible.

[XPLAlN]

A classic propagandist rant! Thanks for capturing for posterity.

[frea35g]

I saw another video just now where Harvey Wesserman goes on Democracy Now! to debate nuclear power and he calls the state maintained nuclear power plant system in France "National Socialism". Nuclear power = Nazism, thanks Greenpeace.

This basically shows how intellectually honest he is. "Veteran investigative reporter" my ass.

[patriotsundergod]

Humans only produce less than 2% of all CO2

[bimmjim]

I did engineering in mining, construction and manufacturing and I don't find any mistakes in Wassermans video. Since I majored in metalurgy, I can add that the effects caused by irradiating materials over long periods of time is not well understood. Wasserman hints at this when he mentions how the high level waste containers are already beginning to crumble.

I did metallurgy on some N-Plant parts and as a result of that experience I don't want to live anywhere near a nuclear plant. NO WAY!

[danberado]

Believe it or not water vapor is a green house gas. If you think "CARBON!" is the only green house gas, perhaps you need to swap out one of your basic chemistry classes for some basic climatology.

Nuclear is not cost effective because of the insane cost of insuring the plants.

[milofonbil]

Harvey,

How close was Three Mile Island to the forming of a critical mass after the core melted down 90%? Do you know if there was almost enough molten Uranium and Plutonium for a critical mass? It seems to me that lighter metals would have floated on top of the melted mass, concentrating the U and Pu on the bottom.

[powerhawk56]

Well, first only 50% of the fuel cladding opened and then less than that actually melted. It was more of a tossing of the fuel to the bottom of the reactor.

[milofonbil]

I stand corrected. Over 90% of the reactor core was damaged, and only 52% had melted down. If more had melted down, I guess it would be a serious problem since all core catcher patents include neutron-absorbing designs that would help reduce or prevent a run-away chain reaction.

[jasenjoseph]

Obama has a connection to the nuclear industry. His second largest source of campaign funding is from Exelon corporation, a nuclear reactor owner and operator. His vote on the second version of the 2005 energy bill shows that he is willing to hand out huge subsidies and extend government insurance to the nuclear industry.

[angelandsaint]

Good for Obama-I might vote for him now!!! Thanks!!

[aaltman56]

he has no clue at all...

[milofonbil]

On which specific points?

[powerhawk56]

Well, everything he says basically

[milofonbil]

He's wrong on everything? He does not have anything correct? There is no common ground at all? That's pretty amazing.

[powerhawk56]

Well, really its not that amazing, its just rather asinine. There is one point, solar can be implemented more for an additional source of peaking use electricity. And fossil plants are extremely dirty.

[milofonbil]

Both solar and wind, if properly sited, can provide peak power. Geothermal and hydro can provide a base load. And new hydro does not need dams. Also, I think he agrees that fossil fuels are indeed very dirty.

[powerhawk56]

Yeah, that was part of the one thing. Wind is highly debatable, I used to think that it was an ok source but now only in smaller dc sized mills maybe. Hydro and Geothermal are also quite interesting. Geo poses some great engineering challenges that could make it not as limited as hydro if solved.

[milofonbil]

Geo - do you know California provides 1/2 of the world's geothermal power?

Wind - here in Washington the capacity factor is up to 40% with Vestas V80's that are rated at 2MW.

Hydro - there are new damless hydro plants that don't require a dam, don't kill fish and still produce reliable power (as long as it rains - not hard in the Pacific Northwest).

[powerhawk56]

I didn't say I was against, rather that they are interesting additional sources for electricity

[milofonbil]

I think the immediate goal is to get rid of as much fossil fuel power and replace it with clean energy to really start bringing global warming under control.

[soylentgreenb]

"Both solar and wind, if properly sited, can provide peak power."

Wind cannot replace any fossil fuels. See Germany or Denmark; they're little additional sources that can never be relied on to produce power at any given movement; they're a supplement to natural gas at best.

[gigibson2718]

I think everyone is missing a key point on hydro plants. Geography. You can't just build them anywhere. Same with geothermal and wind.

A power plant in California will not provide power to the eastern seaboard. There are losses inherent in transit.

Wind and solar plants NEED natural gas to power them when there is no sun/wind.

Finally, where are you going to put these giant, inefficient, low producing fields of wind/solar plants?

Nuclear power ftw!

[christo930]

@gigibson2718 99% of the windmills that can be built haven't been built yet. Offshore wind is a great new frontier.

This video is nothing but his opinion and none of it is backed with evidence. It's like listening to Alex Jones.

[Cr8Joi]

Retire King CONG! We are at a cross-roads. We must choose wisely. I'm so grateful for Harvey and his activism.

[steve715]

I had him as a professor in college. Best class I ever took.

[powerhawk56]

wow, I mean wow, this guy is an absolute nutter. I guess a metal poll barn structure was containment at Chernobyl. The earthquake that hit Perry NOT a single system, pipe, or pump was damaged. The NRC along with plant workers spent months inspecting every single pipe there, not a single one damaged. This guy pulls stuff from his ass, holy crap. What a kook.

[milofonbil]

Tell me about the containment they had for Windscale. How about the containment on GE Mark 1's and GE Mark 2's? Or Westinghouse ICE? They're pretty much the same - a steel building designed to hold-in radioactivity under normal operation. On newer designs, the west recognized it needed a steel-reinforced bunker. None of them can really contain an explosion. An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale struck ten miles from the Perry core. Another earthquake could be much closer someday

[powerhawk56]

And please name any of those that are in operation today. And are of little significance about building new aside from what not to build. So I guess you believe that the containment building today are just made from steel huh. An earthquake of 5.0 could hit directly under the Perry reactor and not even make the paint on its supports crack, ok. The containment building have been tested to withstand multiple explosions. That's just for one of the layers on those buildings.

[milofonbil]

I believe there are 24 nuclear reactors that operate with deficient containments. For example, All three Browns Ferry units are General Electric Mark 1 (BWR) reactors. This could very easily be compared as "America's Chernobyl" design. According to NRC's then Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Harold Denton in 1985, there is something like a 90% chance of containment failure of this containment under accident conditions. Pilgrim is another example of the GE mk 1.

[powerhawk56]

Ok, 3'-4' of heavily reinforced concrete i.e. missile shield, 4"-6" steel annulus, 3'-4' of more heavily reinforced concrete drywell, 6"-8" steel containment, and then another 3'-4' of heavily reinforced concrete

[JayHubbell]

I live in Fresno where some demented greed head capitalists are plotting to build a nuclear nightmare in my backyard.

At the same time very sane solar entrepreneurs are building the world's largest solar energy farm near here just west of town.

This was a wonderful primer on the pitfalls and perils of the pro-nuclear nonsense.

Thank you for posting this video. I hope we can stop the California pro-nuclear initiative before it gets to the ballot.

[saphiresingold]

thanks for the valuable piece of educations - I appreciate

[jgadfly]

BRILLIANT; this guy KNOWS which way the wind blows, the water flows and where the money goes; Kudos on posting this; EVERYONE should listen to this guy....period