WHY NUKES ARE NOT THE ANSWER FOR NEW ENERGY
Submitted by New Energy News Blog
The temptations of power are many, especially nuclear power. The seduction is in how much good it can do. The technology, to some extent, is there. The electricity comes without greenhouse gas emissions. A Fall 2007 bill in California would have built new nuclear with a requirement to use 20% of the power for desalination, quite a temptation in a drought-threatened state.
“The Titanic wasn’t supposed to sink but, well, it did.” Amory Lovins
The most obvious problem with such power is its concommitant potential to do harm. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) found an employee at the San Onofre plant faking records of fire inspections that were not done for 5 years. There were also records of employee misconduct that went unrevealed so as to protect vital plant security secrets. What might result from a fire or a security breach at a nuclear plant?
“The Titanic wasn’t supposed to sink but, well, it did.” Amory Lovins
During the building of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, things built backwards had to be rebuilt at enormous cost. Might the mistakes have gone undetected until it was too late?
Nuclear waste: The U.S. still has no satisfactory solution. Temporary storage is at or near capacity. Facility on-site storage is less than ideal. Plans to stick the waste deep under Yucca Mountain in Nevada seem stymied by current political leaders in California and Nevada who fear leakage or, even worse, contamination of drinking water in the nearby Colorado River. The Democratic presidential candidates oppose using Yucca Mountain, too. Senator McCain is so far not enthusiastic about the idea.
There are other reasons why nuclear power is an awesome power best avoided if possible. It is a terribly water-intensive form of energy generation. A plant is a vulnerable terrorist target. A worst-case Chernobyl-like meltdown is imponderable.
One other small problem: The cost. A nuclear plant is a hugely expensive undertaking. Rocky Mountain Institute’s Amory Lovins quoted
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