Why not use solar power plants instead of nuclear?

Question

i hear mcain talking about nuclear power plants and how it will help the world blah blah, but it just sounds gross, like in 5 years we will all be mutants, like in "i am legand"...why is solar power plants not an option?

Answer 1

Becaue they don't work24/7 like Atomic plants do.

Answer 2

My guess is that nuclear plants actually provide more power per unit of land that they take up.  Solar plants need a lot of land.  Also, solar power plants don't do well in areas that get snow, which is a good chunk of the country.

Answer 3

You are right, they don't work 24/7 (though that is technically an issue of energy storage, not energy generation, and engineers are getting close to solving that problem). The other things solar plants don't do is melt down, provide tempting targets for terrorists, create dangerous waste which must be handled carefully for at least 10'000 years, and use up a finite fuel source (uranium is not everlasting).

Answer 4

Solar Power is VERY VERY expensive and not efficient when you think of when there is available light.

Wind power is becoming more attractive, due to 24hr's availability and cost of equipment and operating is improving.

Answer 5

Solar power plants are an option, but it's difficult to get energy out of it, because of the nature of how that energy is produced. For large-scale applications, the best way is to use mirrors and reflective surfaces to heat water into steam, then use turbines to generate electricity the same way that fossil-fuel power plants do.

The problem is that this method is EXTREMELY weather dependent, and has limited operable conditions. If it's a cloudy day or at night, it simply won't work because there will be little sunlight. It's not easy to "scale-up" or "scale-down" supply based upon demand, and it also takes up huge amounts of land.

Rather, nuclear power plants aren't nearly as dangerous as you think. France currently generates about 70% of their electricity from nuclear fuel, and the technology is getting more efficient every day.

You watch WAY too many movies.

Answer 6

Solar energy is a good, environmentally friendly source of energy.  However, solar energy requires a large area to generate a relatively small amount of energy.  I live in southern Alabama, and a demonstration project for solar energy to heat an indoor pool here required a solar array roughly the same size as the pool.  You don't need a lot of energy to heat a pool in south Alabama, and we get plenty of sunshine.  Plus, you can't generate solar energy without sunlight.

On the other hand, nuclear power is very efficient, but there is the problem of waste disposal and the remote possibility of radiation release.  There is a nuclear plant about 15 miles from where I live that currently stores its waste on site.  Yet I have three healthy children who were all born here and have lived here all their lives.  My wife and I have lived here for 25 years and we are perfectly fine.  I have never seen any mutated animals or plants.  Nuclear plants are so overdesigned it is almost impossible for any serious accident to happen.

I would love to generate all our power using solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, etc.  I have three kids that have to inherit the planet that we leave them.  But I don't see that happening any time soon.  At present, the bulk of Alabama's power is generated from coal.  Even though there have been vast improvements in emission control from coal plants, they still are relatively messy.  I would rather have something else, and at present nuclear energy is, to me, a viable alternative along with the other sources I mentioned above.

By the way, the sun and wind won't last forever, either.

Answer 7

No power harnessing technology surpasses that of the nuclear technology as of now. Hydroelectricity is a close competitor, but its initial stages and maintainability put it behind nuclear. Solar is probably the most environmentally friendly, but the problem  is that it is terribly inefficient for the land it occupies. It also depends extensively on environmental conditions. No sun, no power. You would want a continuous supply, because storage of vast quantities of electricity is no easy thing.