Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant in Nebraska

[fordman]

next stone age is coming soon. gather up your firewood. watch out for those metal dinasours while crossing the road.

whats next. more of the same until someone figures it out. coal is better than nukes i say.

[cdeal28078]

I took out my wood stove for the gas logs since I have a hard time cutting and splitting wood these days BUT I kept the wood stove. JUST IN CASE.
I know there are two kinds of reactors. The one in Japan was a boiling water reactor I think. I know it is different than MOST of the ones we have here in the States. I honestly believe ours are safer. Plus ours usually have much more safety features.
I know here in NC at one plant there is a back up power line system JUST for emergency and it is supposedly not on any kind of map plus most is under ground. There is a back up cooling water system that requires no power as it is gravity and heat transfer powered so to speak. Plus two HUGE back up generator in the building a behind many security systems. I live with in ten miles of it and don't worry about it though the plant is at least 10 years past what it was originally designed for.
The only thing that bothers me about Nuclear power here in North and South Carolina is the human factor and the spent fuel.
clint

[basketcase0302]

The only thing that bothers me about Nuclear power here in North and South Carolina is the human factor and the spent fuel.

Far too many "Homer Simpsons" with squeaky clean background checks and access to controls!
The U.S. NRC has a pretty good grasp on what they are doing, and always have IMO. The reactors on our ships have redundant valves / pumps / and power supplies. We've pioneered and led the way safely for nuclear power for over 40 years now for a very good reason.

[7DF250]

We've pioneered and led the way safely for nuclear power for over 40 years now for a very good reason.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/d ... ulator-nrc

[basketcase0302]

Good site 7Df250, thanks for sharing.
I'm not gonna' lose any sleep over our reactors though.
I've got much bigger fish to fry right here at home for now.

[ezernut9mm]

this is why i love to hear about "eco friendly" cars and yada yada. nothing is for free. you gotta plug that sucker in somewhere and if it ain't coal (clean coal?) it's gonna be nuclear. i don't know what percent of our electricity comes from hydro, but i'll bet it;s not much (gotta protect those salmon).
i guess the natural gas thing is never gonna catch on. we've got lots and lots of it here in the states.

[cdeal28078]

Canada has a pretty good Hydro network but we do not. Most of the Hydro units in NC and SC were built in the very early 1900's
Several were built around 1915 and so forth. I worked in most all of them and it was like walking back in history when you entered the control room. All of these solid brass control units mounted on Brass pedestals. Look on the walls and they still had the posters from 1938 warning about communism and how to ID one. No kidding. All are full of asbestos of course and I tore down a lot of them before anybody worried about the stuff. Yeah I dread my next X-Ray.
I still think the fuel cell is the way to go. If the car can't charge it's own batteries going down the road and has to be plugged in that is not helping anything. Sure you might have a lower gas bill but your electric bill will make up for it I promise.
I bet the technology is out there or getting real close to using plain water and pulling the hydrogen out of it to fuel and internal combustion engine.
Other than that I think Propane or natural gas might be a good option until they get something better. They say there is so much natural gas here in the State that it would last us 200 years if used right but nobody is doing anything like it.
We need to listen to that Pickings guy a little more.
clint

[basketcase0302]

I bet the technology is out there or getting real close to using plain water and pulling the hydrogen out of it to fuel and internal combustion engine.

Clint, the US has had this technology for over 50 years now. We used a machine on subs nicknamed "the bomb". Basically it separated the hydrogen from the oxygen, (we used/stored the oxygen). The process is very dangerous and expensive. I'm not sure if they've tried this on a smaller scale or not?
Agreed on the natural gas and propane!