If you are in favor of nuclear powerplants...?

Question

If you are in favor of nuclear powerplants, how do you think we should keep the nuclear fuel and waste out of the hands of terrorists? I'm specifically wondering about whether you think Iran should be allowed to enrich its own fuel and stuff like that. I like how the French have breeder reactors, which are very efficient. I was thinking if there was a worldwide standard for nuclear reactors and fuel, then it would be easier to spot someone who's doing something out of the ordinary. What do you think?

Answer 1

I love Nuclear Power. It is probably our only hope for producing the amount of reliable, affordable power we need and reduce CO2 emissions. Solar, Wind, etc. will help, but we need an alternative that runs 24/7 and produces power at he lowest cost. Solar and Wind does not work well in many areas and is not 24/7. Breeder units actually made more fuel while producing power. There were many more new, better, safer, designs in the pipeline.

The Power production industry tried to expand our Nuclear in the 70's and 80's because they knew it was our only real reliable option. They put a lot of research into alternatives. Our wonderful "Environmentalists" killed the industry based on "Feelings", not science / engineering. We can thank them (and the ignorant press) for the mess we are in now. Isn't it ironic? Our Environmentalists are one of the main root sources of CO2 emissions today. That's what happens when "feeling good" makes policy.

Nuclear waste is a technical problem with many solutions.

Answer 2

It is nuclear waste only if you do not reprocess it.

About 95 % of spent nuclear fuel can be reused after reprocessing.

And the remaining 5 % does not make good material for terrorist.

By reprocessing  the fuel it also it is much safer to store the 5% then trying to 100% spent fuel.

The 5% left is less radioactive and has a shorter halflife the spent fuel.

Also the 5% does not have to be stored in a cooling tank.

Answer 3

Securing the waste is the #1 problem with nuke plants.  I interviewed with a nuke plant to be one of the plant engineers when I was getting out of college.  On our tour, they showed us the area where they're storing spent fuel... it's in a very deep pool full of very clean water, and it's just sitting there glowing.  They told me that they weren't initially designed to be a storage facility, but it became the most viable option after some "political consideration".

People talk about plastic lasting forever - I don't care about a few 2L bottles floating around... I'm worried about something "stripping the paint off my house and giving my kids a permanent orange afro"

Answer 4

I read an article the other day about how they caught the night security gaurds at a nuke plant asleep on the job, regularly!

It's just a matter of time before some materials turn up missing...

Answer 5

No we have done a pretty good job of stuffing the environment so far with things we thought would do us no harm and make our lives easier so we should of learned our lesson by now.

I don't want my children and grandchildren to have fix our mistakes they have enough to do in the future so its best we don't create any more problems for them to clean up.

Answer 6

If every country that has a stable and moderate regime was allowed the know how and the resources to built large number of Nuclear power stations, and if that trend would be accepted worldwide, the price of oil will soon start to drop, so the world could unite and prevent Iran from exporting much of it's crude, and that will cause a political change in Iran in no time.