Comment Re:Nuclear power will be too cheap to meter... (Score 1) 343
Totally agree with your post. It has never been cheaper or safer as history teaches us.
First time I have heard about storing radioactive waste in steel, would love a link so I can check out the article.
It is my understanding the reason they use cement to encase the radioactive waste is its the only safe way, as steel barrels break down faster than cement.
Of course cement breaks down, starts cracking, in 50 years, even though the offical documents suggest a 100 year life before re-casking is required to keep it safe. How much the cost of recasking, well its hundred of thousands if not millions...every 50 to 100 years.
This is why they want to drop it in the ocean or put it in a mountain vault, they don't really want to keep it safe. If they did, they would never suggest any option where monitoring, re-casking would be impossible.
All radioactive isotopes attack different organs or bones in people. Cesium-137 is specifically absorbed by heart muscle.
How many people reading this are aware of the increase in holes in the hearts of newborns and other heart related pediatric issues reported by doctors and quickly supressed. Doctors weeks and months after Fukushima were pissed about this. The Ohio river vally from Ohio through Pennsylvania are where the reports occurred, for those that care to research it as I did. Don't complain to me if you don't want to even bother to check?
Even Cesium-137, with only a 30 year half life would have to be casked at least 10 half lives (if not 20) to get close to inert (background radiation) which means Cesium-137 (increase in heart problems) would have to be re-casked at least 300 / 50 = 6 times, probably 12.
Re-casking Uranium or plutonium..one of those has a 240,000 year half life, which means multiplying 240,000 by 10 or 20 to get close to inert....
However we might not need to even address that long of a half life as when scientists went back to Chernobyl 27 years later (almost one 30 year half life) the radiation, specifically Cesium-137 had not dropped at all, in fact it was higher in many areas which lead to one of three possibilities:
1) The half-life of Cesium-137 is longer than 30 years. (doubt this one.)
2) Cesium-137 breaks down in nature slower than in the laboratory. (again, similar to 1), doubt this one too)
3) The Russian government lied to everyone about how much Cesium-137 was really released. (probably the truth)
Regardless, we have a very accurate reading on the amount of Cesium-137 radiation, approximately 27 years after Chernobyl, so in another 30 years (a second half life), we will know precisely if number 3 is correct. What if the levels of Cesium-137 have not dropped in half after the second half life (60 years after the event)? What than? Time will tell us precisely.
All bets are off and no amount of planning can accurately predict the costs of storage (which requires re-casking every 50 - 100 years) alone, which will be significantly higher the more half lifes required to approach inert. And the cost of both building and dismantling Nuclear Power plants...is too huge to ever be consider cheap when compared to any other energy source.
Better to dismantle and recask, cost wise, rather than have to re entomb a whole reactor. Will Russia have the money to re-entomb the reactor at Chernobyl? The smart money says no way. How many Billions to re-tomb as the concrete degrades? Yea not cheaper at all if you allow the plants to operate beyond their so called safe limits and a disaster happens.
Now consider Fukushima...
The week it happened, nuclear scientists not beholden to any government or the NRC stated factually that no scientist, government, corporation had the ability to stop the Cesium-137 from leaking, nor would any entity have that technology for the next 10 years. In other words, it can not be made safe, it will continue to leak and no one has a technological solution that will work, nor will they for the next decade....therefore how is Nuclear Power safe? Its NOT.
If the reactor vessel cooled, the radioactive waste went into the ground water and out into the ocean....
Water, ground water, is being pulled up by pine trees (and other blossoming plants) that release their pollens in the Spring, the levels of Cesium-137 in a single pine cone is way more than what is required to kill a person, and all those trees and plants will be soaking up the Cesium-137 laden groundwater for the next 10 years and releasing the Cesium-137 laden pollens for the foreseeable future. Any of that crap that gets pulled into the jet stream, however it happens, can reach the USA in 24 - 48 hours. Not alarmist, just factual.
Safe, heck no. Cheap, never was. They should all just stop lying. Its beyond pathetic.
To add insult to injury those that want to create new breeder reactors, that would create more contaminated radioactive waste, lie and say it will be safer. Worse yet some of those new breeder reactor designs (Sodium cooled fast reactors, I believe) can not be fought in any conventional sense, caused by a Fukushima, Chernobyl or Three Mile Island type of Disaster , an introduction of oxygen ignites and burns...the idea that anyone in their right mind would consider such a reactor and suggest that it is safe is beyond insulting to someone of average intelligence. Yet they claim even these Sodium type of breeder reactors are safe. Yea right...not. None of them are safe!
Every time I look at the weekly and monthly reports on nuclear power plants around the USA, all of which show which Nuclear plants have leaked radiation into the environment that period it sickens me. Should sicken all of us. Does sicken too many that are needlessly exposed to this cheaper, safer alternative.
No wonder the Duke Energys and Koch Industries types of 1%ers feel they can pollute with impunity. We allow the Nuclear Power plants to release trace amounts every week and every month. At least those trace radioactive elements have much shorter half lifes, but it should not get released, period...else its not safe, period.
We simply can not live without clean water to drink, heart attack in hours or days through lack of sleep, next is lack of water (3 days?), than lack of food...all will kill you eventually. Plenty of other energy sources pollute our drinking water.
I was looking for a comment from someone to call them on the lie of safe and cheap...you did that, thank you.