Day: April 9, 2006

I was going to write a long, gentle, series of articles on why the US is going to have to build a lot of nuclear power plants soon whether we really want to or not. That is where the energy series will lead, and I will examine the alternatives fairly along the path so you both understand and agree with the conclusion.

I will still do that in coming weeks, but time is shorter than we think. This article convinced me that everyone who wants their grandchildren to have a reasonably comfortable existence had better start agitating for more nukes now, not tomorrow. We are well on our way to becoming an industrial and low-tech backwater. (Italics below are mine.)

And its significance to the growing powerhouses of China and India cannot be understated. China plans to install about 40 1000-megawatt nuclear reactors by 2020 as its power demands quadruple and it tries to shift away from its dependence on energy resources blamed for greenhouse gases, such as coal.  — The Australian, “Nuclear Powerhouse” by Joseph Kerr

READ whole article

Meanwhile, our nuke reactors are 30 years or older, and starting to show signs of age. They need to be replaced with new model, pebble bed gas-cooled reactors. The time for cooling with water, and the problems that go with it is past.

(Note to the worried: Don’t freak out over the MSNBC article, Tritium is only harmful if you breath or drink a lot, like gallons. The low-energy beta radiation it releases won’t even penetrate your skin, you are in more danger from the monitor you are sitting in front of right now.) Update on the Tritium leak situation and new process here.

An assortment of things this Sunday:

Today is Iraq Freedom Day, the third anniversary of the fall of Saddam. Things are getting better in Iraq, but the media isn’t presenting that, so a few efforts are underway to help them put things in perspective.

In another development, FBI are still looking for the person responsible for drilling a hole in a Florida nuclear power plant pipe. No leaks, not to worry etc. but it’s likely to turn out to be an opponent of nuclear power from some wacko fringe environmental group.

What was a simple *hah* shower insert in the master bath has become a “strip-it-down-to-the-studs” redecorating job…. grrrrrrrr. The rolloff arrives next Friday, so the rest of this day I am plumbing, ripping out sheet rock, etc. So it’s later on all, sorry no more time to write today. 🙁

Later that same day……

Whew!  That went easier than I thought, so I will have some time to write.