More on nuclear power - The Gormogons

I’ve been lax in posting more about nuclear power as of late. The Volgi even sent me a prompt which I’ll cite below. However, the main point that people should keep in mind when evaluating alternative power options is the economics (Yes, it’s the economy, stupid). Let’s consider a few sources for alternative power: Tidal, Solar, Wind, and Nuclear. The real driving factor will be the total cost of implementing and operating the facilities for the production of electricity and whether it can be more economically effiicient than fossil fuels. Currently fossil fuels run about $0.02 per Kilowatt-Hour (KwH).

Starting at the top of the list, we have tidal. It would be difficult to convey the generated power from the source to the consumer (picture transmission lines on the ocean floor trailing up the beaches to substations???) even though the generation would be rather cosntant. The implementation costs are estimated to be about $5.5 Million per Megawatt with a sustained operations cost of $0.03 per KwH.

Next is solar power which is highly dependent on the weather conditions and needs 100s of acres just to produce 10s of Megawatts (reports I’ve read cite 400 acres for 75 Mw). It has a startup cost of just over $4 Million per Mw and a sustained operations cost of $0.23 per KwH (with some proposed government subsidies that has been reported to be as low as $0.13 per KwH).

Everyone now probably has seen a picture of T. Boone Pickens with the windmills in the background. Wind is attractive from a startup cost – a mere $1.5 Million per Megawatt. Its operating costs are around $0.015 per KwH which beats fossil fuels but the wind generation is also subject to weather and location issues. The land use isn’t bad as it can be shared with other land use projects (i.e. farming).

Lastly, we have nuclear power – specifically nuclear fission. These reactors have a startup cost similar to wind, about $1.5 Million and an operating cost of $0.017 per KwH. In the past nuclear waste disposal was a big concern, but many improvements have been made in processing efficiencies and amounts generated and reduces the impact of waste processing to $0.001 per KwH. It is constant generation and has no restrictions on location. As cited before, it can even be buried in your backyard.

So the question to pose is why we haven’t seen more of a push for it. Well, there really isn’t any sort of “nuclear lobby” pushing the issue. Who would they push? New Mexico, home of Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs? Well, the current representatives advertise the state’s energy wealth being “in the power of its wind and sun”. Company-wise, the US has no large corporations actively pushing it. Read this article for more on this. The best part (while all good):

Someone in the administration — probably Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who knows in his heart that wind and solar can’t cut it — will suggest that that a carbon tax be coupled with the revival of nuclear power. Suddenly, the dam will break. NRC regulatory mazes that are still trying to protect us from Three Mile Island will be swept aside. Construction schedules will be accelerated. (The TVA just built a new reactor at Watts Bar in three years and under budget, using a license granted in the 1970s.) Tens of thousands of construction jobs will be created overnight. The French and Japanese will provide the financing. We may even revive the steel industry in the process.

How timely are we? Well there’s this AP article citing issues with Mr. Chu and the administration’s approach to nuclear power. And a great OpEd piece in today’s WSJ. Bottom line: Nuclear Power Now! Note that I didn’t touch on Hydro-Electric, which has some advantages, but still doesn’t compare to nuclear or wind and you end up with crazies like this guy nearby.

GorT

GorT is an eight-foot-tall robot from the 51ˢᵗ Century who routinely time-travels to steal expensive technology from the future and return it to the past for retroinvention. The profits from this pay all the Gormogons’ bills, including subsidizing this website. Some of the products he has introduced from the future include oven mitts, the Guinness widget, Oxy-Clean, and Dr. Pepper. Due to his immense cybernetic brain, GorT is able to produce a post in 0.023 seconds and research it in even less time. Only ’Puter spends less time on research. GorT speaks entirely in zeros and ones, but occasionally throws in a ڭ to annoy the Volgi. He is a massive proponent of science, technology, and energy development, and enjoys nothing more than taking the Czar’s more interesting scientific theories, going into the past, publishing them as his own, and then returning to take credit for them. He is the only Gormogon who is capable of doing math. Possessed of incredible strength, he understands the awesome responsibility that follows and only uses it to hurt people.