Letters to the Editor
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Continuing the discussion
Jug writes: But in the USA, wind now provides about 3%, and the number keeps rising as more turbines are installed. That doesn't mean wind is the complete answer.
I certainly agree. Nor do I propose that breeders (of the variety I propose, the Integral Fast Reactor design developed at Argonne National Lab) be the complete answer either, though if we wanted them to they could be. Wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, and others in development such as wave generation, can all be part of the mix. Safe nuclear would make up the shortfall, which I think any realistic assessment would agree will be considerable. What we're trying to achieve here, I think we agree, is environmentally benign energy sources, meaning an end to fossil fuel use. Fears of outdated nuclear power nothwithstanding, these new reactors can be built and operated safely.
If this can be done, it should be done, if for no other reason than to use up the spent fuel and old nuke material.
I most certainly can be done. Indeed, if we decide to build enough IFRs to make up the shortfall from other renewables, we won't even have enough nuclear waste for startup fuel for all of them. We could actually stand to have much more. Once we get them running, though, they're self-sustaining. Just the depleted uranium we've already got available would be enough to power the entire planet for hundreds of years. The only uranium mining that would need to be done would be what will be needed to supply the current generation of light-water reactors (and the far fewer heavy water reactors) until they're decommissioned. At that point we could add uranium mining to the list of extraction industries that will disappear, along with coal, oil, and gas.
As to what the French consumer pays, you are probably right there, my bad. I haven't lived in France for years. If we did build the type of reactors I propose, though, we'd be able to come in under France's 3 cent rate, and if we did it with a nonprofit framework instead of via private utilities, we would definitely be able to undercut the dime per kWh we're paying now while easily maintaining the grid.
Keeping radioactive material out of private hands, and maintaining the highest level of oversight and operational competence is critical if we wish to avoid both nuclear proliferation and accidents due to gross neglect. France has shown the way with their AREVA system, an umbrella organization that performs all the functions of the nuclear system, including mining oversight, enrichment, plant construction and operation, reprocessing, and disposal. And since we must envision a worldwide system, it's emphatic we create something like this on an international level. Even if we would trust private utility companies to not cut corners and trust the NRC to maintain adequate oversight (both of which have proven to be foolish assumptions up to now), we could hardly expect every nation on the planet to be as assiduous.
Anyway, it's all in the book. If you'd like to correspond more about this, just drop me an email (removing the nospam at the beginning here): nospamgulliver@pacbell.net . I'd be happy to continue the discussion.
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@Gulliver
"Nor do I propose that breeders (of the variety I propose, the Integral Fast Reactor design developed at Argonne National Lab) be the complete answer either, though if we wanted them to they could be."
No single source will be a complete answer. That kind of thinking is what got us in the mess we're in now.
"Wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, and others in development such as wave generation, can all be part of the mix."
Not "can be". "Will be" and "should be". Add conservation and efficiency improvement too, such as geothermal (earth-source) heat pumps for heat and A/C rather than burning fossil fuel. If you don't use as much energy, you don't need to generate as much.
"What we're trying to achieve here, I think we agree, is environmentally benign energy sources, meaning an end to fossil fuel use."
That's a great long-term goal, but some things, like aircraft and ships, aren't going to be electrically powered any time soon.
"Fears of outdated nuclear power nothwithstanding, these new reactors can be built and operated safely."
That's a claim that will have to be demonstrated.
How close do you live to Three Mile Island? Where were you in 1979?
"I[t] most certainly can be done."
Another claim that will have to be demonstrated.
"The only uranium mining that would need to be done would be what will be needed to supply the current generation of light-water reactors (and the far fewer heavy water reactors) until they're decommissioned."
Which could happen at an accelerated rate since the new generation plants would make them unnecessary.
"At that point we could add uranium mining to the list of extraction industries that will disappear, along with coal, oil, and gas."
Those industries will still be needed for other uses, but not at the scale they now exist. Coal will still be needed to make steel, oil and gas for non-fuel petrochemicals, etc.
"As to what the French consumer pays, you are probably right there, my bad. I haven't lived in France for years."
It's important to compare apples to apples.
"If we did build the type of reactors I propose, though, we'd be able to come in under France's 3 cent rate, and if we did it with a nonprofit framework instead of via private utilities, we would definitely be able to undercut the dime per kWh we're paying now while easily maintaining the grid."
Again, a claim that has to be demonstrated. Some folks might read "nonprofit" as "government-run", too.
" maintaining the highest level of oversight and operational competence is critical....AREVA system, an umbrella organization that performs all the functions of the nuclear system, including mining oversight, enrichment, plant construction and operation, reprocessing, and disposal."
The cost of which must be reflected in the total price of electricity.
"And since we must envision a worldwide system, it's emphatic we create something like this on an international level."
I think we should first develop a USA system, just the way the French developed theirs. Except we don't have to start from scratch; we can adopt and adapt their system.
However:
I'm old enough to remember being told by experts that nuclear energy would be "too cheap to meter", and that we'd have more than we could ever use - all by 1980. The all-electric home was sold as the home of the future. I remember being told that long before the waste became a problem, there would be ways to easily deal with it.
I also remember being told that serious nuke-plant accidents were so improbable as to not be worth worrying about.
And it all seemed very reasonable, back when those promises were made. But it turned out there was a lot more involved than what was immediately apparent. So the new-generation nukes will have to prove themselves to a very skeptical public in order to gain wide acceptance.