Showing posts with label plants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plants. Show all posts

New Laser Processing of Uranium Is a Danger

The last thing the world needs is an easier way to enrich uranium. There is nowhere to put the used uranium and the disaster in Japan shows the potential risk and damage from nuclear power stations.

A new laser enrichment process has been developed by General Electric. It enables production of enriched uranium cheaper, quicker and in larger amounts. It is feared that "rogue" states will get hold of the knowledge and make uranium for nuclear bombs.

Claiming that nuclear power is a way of reducing greenhouse gases is ridiculous. If more power plants are built more will be at risk from natural disasters. Vast tracts of land will be left uninhabitable as in Japan. It is ironic that GE has made this leap forward in partnerships with a Japanese company, Hitachi.

They are talking now about turning the damaged power plant back on because the country cannot manage without it. Workers there will have to wear full-protection suits all day every day to generate electricity.
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Science

Don't Get Excited About Nuclear Power

The world is in a tight corner and people are far too optimistic. Thinking that carbon pollution will cure itself is not scientific fact. Only a fool would hang onto the notion that nothing is wrong. The poles are thawing out and that is fact. Polar bears are dwindling in number as their traditional frozen feeding grounds get warmer. Butterflies that used to stay on in winter in southern England have moved north to colder climes. Those species that stay are getting larger.

Despite coal power stations being the main culprit more are being built to meet Mankind's increasing demand. Much is said about nuclear power stations holding the key to a "clean" future. Used uranium is going around Europe at this very moment without finding a home in any country. Where will this dangerous product be put in the future? Unless it is blasted into space toward the sun there is no where for it to go. France gets more than 80 percent of its electric power from nuclear means, but this is the country with the used uranium problem.

Even some scientists say the carbon footprint of nuclear power will be reduced to zero. This is hogwash. If you ignore nuclear waste everything looks good. Include it and it all looks very bad indeed. Nuclear power isn't cheap. Building a nuclear power plant requires long term planning. Safe guards are costly. Their useful life is also limited. Coal plants can stay in operation for much longer.

Within twenty years all 25 of China's new nuclear plants will come online. The world will be a militants' paradise with used uranium for sale on the open market. The consequences will be catastrophic. Saying there is no carbon price is absolute rubbish. If a bomb goes off there will be plenty of pollution.
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