Thread: Nuclear power plants

Originally Posted by isuzurover

The big issue is baseload power. At present, fossil fuels (coal or gas) or nuclear provide almost all the world's baseload power.

Some "green" options like geothermal, ocean swell/tide, solar thermal + storage, etc... can provide baseload power as well, but the technologies are either experimental, very expensive, or the sites where they can be implemented viably are too few and far from the demand. Plus for all apart from Geothermal, a few days with no wind or sun will mean no power.

However, a lot of the issues can be overcome by better grids and smarter power management. It is usually windy or sunny somewhere. The middle of Australia has over 300 sunny days a year...

Good points. So what is the resolution, an even mix of all sources?

Originally Posted by goingbush

Was Poms like you that buggered up Australia in the first place (by laying claim to it) and more recently thought it fine to Australia as a Atomic test site

you think it would have been any better if the french found this place first?

Originally Posted by isuzurover

The big issue is baseload power. At present, fossil fuels (coal or gas) or nuclear provide almost all the world's baseload power.

Some "green" options like geothermal, ocean swell/tide, solar thermal + storage, etc... can provide baseload power as well, but the technologies are either experimental, very expensive, or the sites where they can be implemented viably are too few and far from the demand. Plus for all apart from Geothermal, a few days with no wind or sun will mean no power.

However, a lot of the issues can be overcome by better grids and smarter power management. It is usually windy or sunny somewhere. The middle of Australia has over 300 sunny days a year...

and when its dark the solar systems provide how much power?.
i am all for greener ways to generate power but that baseload eveyone talks about needs to come from somewhere and nuclear is the answer.

Originally Posted by Yorkie

and when its dark the solar systems provide how much power?.
i am all for greener ways to generate power but that baseload eveyone talks about needs to come from somewhere and nuclear is the answer.

Solar thermal + storage (usually molten salt) can provide power for 24/7.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhV2LT8KVgA]Gemasolar - The World's First Baseload (24/7) Solar Power Plant - YouTube[/ame]

Originally Posted by goingbush

mate, if your going to bandy about stats like that take a bit of care to get them right, including ALL of 1986, Aust road deaths to end on 2012 were 51,106

Was Poms like you that buggered up Australia in the first place (by laying claim to it) and more recently thought it fine to Australia as a Atomic test site

oh, for pity's sake

5 SEPTEMBER 2005 | GENEVA - A total of up to 4000 people could eventually die of radiation exposure from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) accident nearly 20 years ago, an international team of more than 100 scientists has concluded.

As of mid-2005, however, fewer than 50 deaths had been directly attributed to radiation from the disaster, almost all being highly exposed rescue workers, many who died within months of the accident but others who died as late as 2004.

WHO | Chernobyl: the true scale of the accident


Waste disposal
Final disposal of high-level waste is delayed for 40-50 years to allow its radioactivity to decay, after which less than one thousandth of its initial radioactivity remains, and it is much easier to handle. Hence canisters of vitrified waste, or used fuel assemblies, are stored under water in special ponds, or in dry concrete structures or casks, for at least this length of time.
The ultimate disposal of vitrified wastes, or of used fuel assemblies without reprocessing, requires their isolation from the environment for a long time. The most favoured method is burial in stable geological formations some 500 metres deep. Several countries are investigating sites that would be technically and publicly acceptable, and in Sweden and Finland construction is proceeding in 1.9 billion year-old granites.
One purpose-built deep geological repository for long-lived nuclear waste (though only from defence applications) is already operating in New Mexico, in a salt formation.
After being buried for about 1000 years most of the radioactivity will have decayed. The amount of radioactivity then remaining would be similar to that of the corresponding amount of naturally-occurring uranium ore from which it originated, though it would be more concentrated.

Waste Management Overview

thanks.
playing devils advocate though surely not all days you will get perfect sun light so you still need something to top up the grid during those times?.

Hydro is the only reliable and viable form of renewable energy at this time. Everything else is either unable to provide base load power, theoretically possible or impractical to employ for base load generation.

Originally Posted by PeterM

Hydro is the only reliable and viable form of renewable energy at this time. Everything else is either unable to provide base load power, theoretically possible or impractical to employ for base load generation.

But has a huge environmental impact on the river system that it sits on.

Originally Posted by PeterM

Hydro is the only reliable and viable form of renewable energy at this time. Everything else is either unable to provide base load power, theoretically possible or impractical to employ for base load generation.

See above. The Gemasolar plant has been providing baseload power since may 2011.

Busting the baseload power myth › Opinion (ABC Science)

Originally Posted by Yorkie

thanks.
playing devils advocate though surely not all days you will get perfect sun light so you still need something to top up the grid during those times?.

Of course. But it is easy to have a standby gas turbine - which is quick to start and stop.