HOW I SEE IT: Nuclear energy is America’s best option
Published: April 27, 2009
Updated: April 27, 2009
Energy experts and TV commercials lead one to believe the solution to our energy crisis is clean coal, natural gas, wind turbines, solar cells, geothermal wells, hydroelectric dams or some revolutionary new energy source.
All of the safe locations for hydroelectric dams have been used, safe locations for geothermal wells are very scarce and difficult to develop, and there is no such thing as “clean coal.”
The truth is, unless we take drastic action, coal and oil will run out in the next 75 to 100 years. Battery-powered cars are not the answer; 60 percent of our electricity is produced from coal. To charge the batteries, we will just burn more coal. The cost of fossil fuels will eventually bankrupt our nation if Congress and President Obama don’t do it first.
We need energy when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining. We need a constant, reliable energy source 24 hours per day, every day, for centuries. At this time, there is only one form of energy on Earth that meets this requirement — nuclear energy. If you are “nuclearphobic,” get over it. Even Dr. Patrick Moore, the founder of Greenpeace, agrees that nuclear power is our only long-term hope for abundant, cheap, reliable energy.
Twenty percent of all of our energy now comes from nuclear power. The U.S. has been operating nuclear-powered submarines for about 60 years without a fatal nuclear accident.
If you do not like nuclear power, then consider this: Hundreds of people are killed annually mining coal — more than have ever been killed through the proper peaceful use of nuclear energy.
The newest nuclear reactors are 99.5% efficient, are pollution-free and can be fully developed and ready for installation within five years. These new reactors are called “integral fast reactors.”
IFRs will use for fuel the 65,000 tons of nuclear waste we now store in 125 locations throughout the U.S. This is the nuclear waste our government is now trying to bury in a mountain. Isn’t that just like government, trying to find a place to bury perfectly good fuel?
The reactors used by electrical power companies today are only 2 to 5% efficient; that is why they produce so much radioactive waste. The IFR reactor design prevents the reactors from overheating; if they get too hot, the design of the fuel will cause them to automatically shut down. The IFR has the ability to reprocess its own fuel; therefore, it never has to be refueled, and these facts greatly reduce the danger of nuclear proliferation.
IFRs do not require hundreds of acres of water for cooling — such as Lake Anna, for example. Therefore, they are much cheaper to build. The IFR coolant is a self-contained vessel of liquid lead.
IFRs do not need water to operate; instead, they can use super-critical gases as the operating fluid rather than steam.
Using IFRs, we have enough nuclear waste and enough processed uranium already in inventory to provide all of the energy the U.S. will need for the next 1,000 years!
The bad news is, the Obama administration isn’t even considering continuing development of nuclear power.
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Reader Reactions
jorth- the problem with reprocessing is not that we can’t safeguard it. The problem is with others like Pakistan and India and North Korea diverting it to weapons use. If we make plutonium, how can we tell others they can’t do it either.? Joke all you want about people turning green but nuclear proliferation is serious business.
RJMA’s comments to Robert Wical’s Nuclear Power editorial sounds like more of the party line. Obama is NOT pro nuclear power because he is doing nothing to encourage or promote it. When he makes decisions like killing Yucca Mountain based purely for Political Reasons he is not demonstrating the least bit of objectivity and certainly not anything that could be construed as being in favor of building more nuclea power plants.
The Plutonium removed from spent fuel in the repocessing technology can be safely contained and secured if it is done at a secure location like Yucca Mountain, and retained for future use in the next generation of nuclear reactors using Plutonium as one if its fuel sources.
As Robert Wical so accurately said. GET OVER IT. Nuclear Power is safe and our cleanest and most efficient method of generating electricity and it will not turn anyone green, as hollywood would like you to believe. Since we will definitely be seeing more electric cars in the future the demand for electricity will only increase and we cannot continue to keep our head in the sand hoping that Solar and Wind wind will generate enough electricity to make up for the dirty coal plants we will should be closing.
snowy- That sounds good. Plutonium is my biggest issue with nucs. I’ll check it out.
With the integral fast reactor plutonium is never isolated and never leaves the reactor/reprocessing integrated facility. Proliferation resistance is one of its major advantages. Please read about it.
Mr. Wical writes: (The founder of Greenpeace) agrees that nuclear power is our only long-term hope for abundant, cheap, reliable energy.
Actually he wrote in the Wash Post “nuclear energy may just be the energy source that can save our planet from another possible disaster: catastrophic climate change.“ And “Nuclear energy is the only large-scale, cost-effective energy source that can reduce these emissions while continuing to satisfy a growing demand for power”....but “I say that guardedly”.
Then Mr. Wical says: “the Obama administration isn’t even considering continuing development of nuclear power.“
But actually Mr. Obama favors the continued use of nuclear power and sees it as an integral and inevitable part of any effective U.S. energy policy, especially in light of growing concerns about global warming.
And finally Mr. Wical belittles concerns about waster nuclear fuel. Apparently wanting reprocessing which makes plutonium which is a key component in nuclear weapons. Yes, we can safeguard our plutonium, but it makes it easier for others to use it as well, increasing the chance that some will be diverted to weapons production used by terrorists.
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