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Comment Re: What's the motivation? (Score 1) 178

At that time, we had no WWW ... so I hardly can point you to a German news source that shows it was a graphite explosion.

Are you suggesting that German news sources don't have archives? It's amazing what we can do with computers these days. But, sure, it doesn't sound fair to ask you to look for a needle in a stack of needles, so I'll let that go.

Lets check German Wikidpedia?

Let's.

Well, the German text neither mentions a steam explosion, nor calls the "fire of the graphite" and explosion. It is just named fire.

Funny, I found the text with little difficulty, and I speak like thirty words of German. From German Wikipedia:

Durch die Überschreitung der (lokalen) Auslegungsleistung wurden die Kanäle der Steuerstäbe blockiert und die exponentielle Leistungssteigerung war nicht mehr aufzuhalten. Schlagartig verdampften große Mengen Kühlwassers, und der dabei entstehende hohe Druck ließ den Reaktor bersten.

Additionally, with regard to your "I did not say that" you said "your steam bullshit made me type wrong." You certainly placed the blame for your error upon me.

Comment Re: What's the motivation? (Score 1) 178

1986 when the even happened: it was classified as a wild graphite fire that resulted in the explosion of a huge pile of graphite.

You have the cause and effect reversed. The cooling water in the reactor became supercritical and flashed to steam, causing the explosion. The graphite burned because it was already extremely hot and the explosion allowed oxygen to get to it, completing the fire triangle. I am old enough to remember 1986, too, and I would be interested in seeing your "1986 news source" that claims the graphite exploded, as solid graphite does not do that. Perhaps you are simply misremembering?

Your steam bullshit made me type wrong.

I respect that you originally wrote "hydrogen" in your previous comment and made a typographical error. However, there is no "steam bullshit" as this is the actual cause of the explosion. Additionally, "look at what you made me do" is something people who cannot accept responsibility for their own actions say when they're trying to blame other people for their errors.

Comment Re: What's the motivation? (Score 1) 178

It is not called a steam explosion when the graphite moderator block explodes in fire. Obviously in such an explosion a lot of steam from the cooling system is created.

The graphite was not the material that provided the explosive force, the steam was. That's why it's called "a steam explosion." If you blow up a rockface with TNT, it's a "TNT explosion" and not "a rock explosion." This is not a difficult concept.

Fukushima "melted down" after power loss, due to the tsunami, and steam explosions wrecking the reactor vessels

Damn, you just love getting shit wrong. They were hydrogen explosions.

Comment Re: What's the motivation? (Score 1) 178

Chernobyl did not melt down.

It suffered a Graphite Explosion.

Completely different things.

Those are, indeed, completely different things but only one of them happened at Chernobyl. The graphite didn't explode, the explosion was caused by steam. The reactor also melted down. you can see pictures of the rather famous "elephant foot" proving such.

Comment Re:The cost of force (Score 1) 89

My personal favorite example of this is OpenAI's stated plan to have $1T per year in infrastructure spending. If you do the math, you will have to replace approximately 1/3rd of the entire productive US workforce and charge their former employers about $30k a year per displaced employee to break even. On the infrastructure. OPEX not included.

The math doesn't math.

Comment Re: solid state (Score 1) 294

If there's cellphone signal enough for voice, there's enough to run an app that is designed to handle the low bandwidth.

But now you're shifting from Colorado to Canada. See what I mean by constant retreat?

Besides, like I said, I drove through the mountains of western Canada and always had enough cell signal. And caching is still a thing. GPS still works as long as one can see 3 satellites, and some can use the EU and RU versions to improve accuracy even more.

Worst case, Starlink is deploying cellphone technology, so we'll have signal from satellites soonish.

Comment Re: solid state (Score 1) 294

Man, it's just constant retreat with you, isn't it?
You're seriously saying Alma doesn't have cellphone signal? I've lived in a smaller town and still had signal.

Generally speaking, those installing EV charging stations want to be able to bill for it. Which means that the station itself needs connectivity, even if it doesn't need to be much. They need a big fat pipe of electricity as well.
Sounds like an excellent spot for a cell phone tower, if one isn't already in range.

Besides that, I managed to drive from Alaska to Florida, through Canada, without ever being out of cellphone signal.

Worst case, the app developers are aware that you might be out of signal occasionally. Therefore they cache information.

Comment Re: solid state (Score 1) 294

If you have a cell phone, you have mobile internet. Even if you're just using it as a hotspot for a laptop or tablet.

In any case, those purchasing EVs are overwhelmingly fine with using an app. Or the in-dash infotainment system that can do the same thing. Plug in where you want to go, it finds a route including chargers. Question: Do you use google maps?

Most people don't need to find EV charging stations, only those with EVs need to be able to, and they all generally have cellphones.

And why would they need an attendant? They're fine with being open at night. Gas stations only need attendants because of the large quantities of flammable liquids stored on location. Even with that, I've seen the occasional gas station that, late at night, doesn't have anybody and it is pay at pump only. But they get most of their profit from the attached convenience store, so they need an employee for that, to make money.

Now, there have been some problems with people stealing the charge cables for the copper in them, because current doesn't flow until the car and charger have verified the connection and negotiated charging stuff, so they're safe enough for unattended use.

But said people have also discovered that said lots tend to have very good cameras and end up being caught.

Comment flow over time (Score 1) 294

It isn't so much that it "flowed", it is that aluminum has a greater coefficient of thermal expansion than copper. So it would expand more when it heated up. This was exasperated by the greater gauge of sufficiently rated cable or the installation of the same gauge as copper, insufficient due to it's slightly lower conductivity, causing it to heat up even more.
Over time, this could allow the connection to work its way loose, at some point leading to higher resistance at that point and thus more heat, and even sparking, leading to fires.
Modern connectors address this a number of ways, but the primary way I've seen is to make the connection a little springlike, it doesn't even have to look like a spring at first glance - the expansion isn't that much, after all. Some are even "self tightening", in that they'll tend to pull the wire in rather than let it loosen. Very clever designs that generally don't take anything more than the old connectors. In addition, in wire gauges large enough to be stranded, the very stranding helps with handling the expansion.
As I understand it, when installed to code, the aluminum wiring was safe, the problem was that the code was too stringent for the electricians used to working with copper, and they'd use stuff rated for copper and not aluminum all over.

Comment Re: solid state (Score 1) 294

You see gas stations because they have giant price signs and were built long before phones, apps, and incar navigation. They grabbed the most obvious, highvisibility locations decades ago, and we’re all trained to look for them.
EV chargers don’t work that way. Companies installing them know that almost every EV driver is using an app or the car’s builtin route planner to find chargers. Because of that, they don’t need huge signs or prime corner lots. They can be tucked behind a restaurant, at the edge of a parking lot, or a little down an access road. They’re easy to miss if you’re not specifically looking for them.
That’s why you don’t “see” them even though they’re there. I know of several near me, but one of them I only know about because the app pointed me to it. If I were just driving by, I’d never notice it.
As for Alma, 4 Lads Ct has coffee shops and a small park to stretch your legs in. Assortment of shops as well.

Comment Re: solid state (Score 1) 294

Depends on the location and how busy it is. In a lot of places they do not care because there is plenty of capacity. There are a few spots that will charge an idle fee once your car is done, but those are mostly in congested areas.

One simple trick is to set the charge limit to 100 percent. If your car can finish in 20 minutes, that means it was already around 70 to 80 percent when you plugged in, which also means you probably did not need to charge much in the first place.

For a typical 300 mile EV:
20 percent to 80 percent takes about 15 to 25 minutes.
20 percent to 100 percent takes about 35 to 45 minutes because the last 20 percent is slower.
That extra time gives you a better window for a sit down meal.

So etiquette is basically this:
If the site is quiet, finish your meal and move the car afterward.
If the site is busy or has idle fees, either set the limit to 100 percent so the session lasts longer and plan to move the car when the car finishes charging.

Long term, the real solution is more charging stalls. We are already seeing stations built with more charging posts than the site can power at full speed at the same time. The idea is that some cars will be tapering or done, which frees up power for new arrivals. And when chargers are placed in restaurant parking lots, the business wants you to stay. They are not going to care if your car sits at 100 percent for a while.

If you are sitting down for an hour anyway, a slightly slower charge is easier on the battery.

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