Comments on: France: Vive Les Nukes
Add a Comment
- Answer to comment about French government running power plants instead of 'greedy coporations': The US government values keeping the government and the nuclear power generators seperate. This is for the same reason the Department of Energy (promotion of nuclear technology) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (regualtion of nuclear technology) were seperated into two agencies. The reason is to allow a seperate entity to do the regulating, and avoid having the fox watch over the hen house. In fact the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is very well respected internationally and many other countries look to the US for insight into better regualtion.
- Reply to this comment
- @cbtdbn.
"What percentage of that is derived from uranium that is mined within the national boundaries of France?"
Sorry i missed your question!
But I don't know mate i would say around 0% lol. From what i have read over the Areva website, Areva is the world leader in natural uranium production with around 15% of market share (a position which ensure the so-called 'independance' that we were talking about), they stopped mining in France lately and operate mostly in Canada, Australia, Niger and Kazakhstan. - Reply to this comment
- Another important project relating to nuclear fusion that will be researched in France:
http://www.iter.org/ - Reply to this comment
- To begin with, the French example is irrelevant. As the report explains, it's a different situation there. They didn't have many choices.
But more importantly, in France it is a government program run by scientists. As that woman in charge there was saying, we are very very careful. No compromises.
Here it's in the hands of greedy and corrupt energy corporations whose only motive is profit. And why they are so enthusiastic about nuclear power? The report does not mention it, I guess Steve Kroft would not want to embarrass the government industry lobbyist he was interviewing, but new power plants would be built to a major extent on taxpayers dollars! Billions and billions of them. In France, given their situation, the country decided to invest in nuclear energy, for its people. Here it would be a government investment in corporate profits. - Reply to this comment
- Nuclear is so so so not the way to go. I will personally weed it out from the face of the earth.
"This aggression will not stand, man" - Reply to this comment
- This story was far too one sided, but there is a bigger issue beyond the oblivious.
Say we do build several nuke power plants, which will take about 10 years to bring on line. These are profit motivated corporations, but they are also utilities which can petition for rate increases on future power. So if the country is successful over the next 10 yeas in reducing it dependence on fossil fuels through conservation and innovation the nukes will come on line just about the time they are least needed. So the price of the energy from these plants will the most expensive power offered for the next 30 years.
As for the claim that the US is developing a recycling program for spent fuel that does not create weapons grade plutonium, the correct term for that statement is Vapor Ware.
Solve the waste problem first, and then consider building a new power plant. Have we learned nothing from our current nuke waste problem? - Reply to this comment
- I am very disappointed in 60 minutes and steve Kroft in particular. the story on Nuke engery did not even question alternatives. When the ceo said you can'nt relie on the sun Why did'nt you fall off your chair laughing. the Sun has'nt stop shining since before Christ. the only reason why anyone does'nt see solar as a viable alternative is because no-one can get rich on a natural resource like the sun or wind. your cost are paid for and few people make the amount of money you would if you had needed repairs and government givebacks to nuke indusrty. PLease Steve start acting like a inquistive person and not like your doing a entertaiment tonight fluff piece.
- Reply to this comment
- "Wind and solar are you know, temporary sources of energy. It works when you have wind, it works when you have sun. No sun, no wind, no energy. You don't want watch TV only when you have wind."
I would question the motives of anyone who would make a statement like the one above. That it came from the C.E.O. of an atomic energy plant operator makes me even more suspect.
Last Summer, there was a major power outage in Europe that was only briefly mentioned in the US media. What happens when the water runs low or out and the nukes cannot be cooled without killing off the fish in the rivers? - Reply to this comment
Nuclear is the way to go ... at least for now. We need nuclear as a short term fix %u2026 40-50 years. However, long term, solar, wind and maybe even ocean turbines need to be developed. Solar and wind technology are simply too expensive for an individual. To make solar and wind affordable it will be necessary to change our lifestyle, but only a little. Communities of the future (everything from small sub-divisions to cities) will need to first be conscious of their source of energy (solar/wind) and then planned and developed around that energy source.
Right now there is a town in Alberta, Canada with a population of about 17,500 that is entirely powered by solar energy. So, as you can see, it is not necessary to live in the sun-belt to utilize solar energy.- Reply to this comment
Nuclear is the way to go ... at least for now. We need nuclear as a short term fix %u2026 40-50 years. However, long term, solar, wind and maybe even ocean turbines need to be developed. Solar and wind technology are simply too expensive for an individual. To make solar and wind affordable it will be necessary to change our lifestyle, but only a little. Communities of the future (everything from small sub-divisions to cities) will need to first be conscious of their source of energy (solar/wind) and then planned and developed around that energy source.
Right now there is a town in Alberta, Canada with a population of about 17,500 that is entirely powered by solar energy. So, as you can see, it is not necessary to live in the sun-belt to utilize solar energy.- Reply to this comment
