Posted on 08/06/2008 5:28:56 AM PDT by kellynla
RAPID CITY, S.D. — John McCain's visit to a nuclear power plant, the first in recent history by a presidential candidate, highlights the promise and peril of a technology that is a key component of his sweeping plan to help the country overcome its energy crisis.
The Enrico Fermi Nuclear Plant outside Detroit, named for the first physicist to split the atom, is home to both an operating power plant and another reactor that had a partial meltdown in the 1960s. It was decommissioned in 1972, while its successor continues to operate.
McCain, who is set to visit the plant Tuesday, is placing great stock in modern-day nuclear technology by calling for the construction of 45 nuclear power plants by 2030. The Republican argues that its carbon-free power generation is necessary to reduce the country's reliance on oil imports and part of any realistic energy program. And he says exposing its expanded use, as Democratic rival Barack Obama has suggested, shows naivete.
"I am going to lead our nation to energy independence and I'm going to do it with a realistic and comprehensive 'all-of-the-above' approach that uses every resource available to finally solve this crisis," the Arizona senator said Monday.
To buttress the point, McCain regularly cites the example of France, which gets about 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear sources. He also highlights the U.S. Navy, in which he served as a fighter pilot and which he boasts has safely operated nuclear power plants in aircraft carriers and submarines without an accident in 60 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
2030???? Why the hell should it take 22 years to build 45 power plants???
Saw China Sybdrome replayed on TCM or somesuch last week. Expect more of that and talk about meltdowns from the MSM without any mention that modern plant designs are self-limiting and cannot melt down.
“MSNBC was trying to claim it couldn’t be done because it takes about 4 years to build each plant”
Oh....and we just can’t build more than one plant at a time...gezzzzzzzzzzzzzz
And MSNBC wonders why their ratings are in the tank. LMAO
It will be pushing things to get it done that fast. Do you have any idea how much specialized equipment and engineering goes into one of those plants?
It’s not like Guido’s Construction Co. is qualified to do this kind of work either. We haven’t built one in a long time, there aren’t off the shelf plans on these things.
It will take probably 8-10 years just to get all the permits, site evaluations, lawsuits, and environmental impact studies done that the Greens will require before the first backhoe shows up, minimum.
PEBBLE BED REACTORS!!!!BUILD HERE!!!!BUILD NOW!!!!!!BUILD FAST!!!!!.................
“Saw China Sybdrome replayed on TCM or somesuch last week. Expect more of that and talk about meltdowns from the MSM without any mention that modern plant designs are self-limiting and cannot melt down.”
Yup, just like with offshore drilling. History Channel showed a piece about the spill off Santa Barbara and of course, the Exxon Valdez.
We can get plans from (heaven help us!) the French, who derive a major portion of their electricity from nuclear power. Of course, if oil prices keep heading south, the incentive to build them and to drill in areas like the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, will disappear.
My wife and I honeymooned in the UK back in ‘93 and I remember seeing nuke plants all over the place while driving the British highways.
I remember seeing one in Berlin right near my hotel!........
See link @#11............China has bigger ambitions than us.........
I used to design nuclear plants at Stone & Webster Eng in Boston. Then 3 Mile Island happened..
And who do you think designed all those nuke plants for the French?
Westinghouse, an (ahem) American company....
http://www.westinghousenuclear.com/businesses/nuclear_power_plants/
The true part of what you said.
Even after plants are built, they may never be allowed to go on line...see Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant (aka Wading River Nuclear Power Plant)
“MSNBC was trying to claim it couldn’t be done because it takes about 4 years to build each plant”
We just don’t have enough illegal aliens to build these plants. It’s all Bush’s fault.
BTW, Westinghouse Nuclear is owned by Toshiba now.
The big advantage of the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor is that units can be built in a factory and trucked to the site. A power plant would consist of multiple modules. And with a mass-produced standard design, if one plant hits a regulatory obstacle, the modules it ordered can be shipped to some other power plant
IIRC, Westinghouse was involved in much of France's nuke plant design.
“It will take probably 8-10 years just to get all the permits, site evaluations, lawsuits, and environmental impact studies done that the Greens will require before the first backhoe shows up, minimum.”
Congressional action can eliminate all that rubbish.
Japan was able to put nuke olants on line in 18 months from start to finish.
I believe that is the way they all should be built, sit down and pour over the design for a couple of years and tweak it to perfection, then just cookie cutter them out identical all over the country.
How many people are dead in Vietnam thanks to her?
How much money did we lose in lost energy and oil overseas because we built no nuke plants since this silly movie?
And don't even get me started on the fatties in SPANDEX she started with the exercise videos... *shudder*
Did anyone catch Keith ‘tiny’ Olberman’s childish rants last night (probably only both of his listeners)
He was acting like a schoolgirl in a mocking childish voice
Despite having a Republican House from 1995 to 2006, a Republican Senate for most of that time (2001-02 excepted), and a Republican White House since 2001, nothing was done to facilitate the development of nuclear power or oil and natural gas exploration on the coasts and in Alaska. The Democrats are of course beholden to the environmental wackos. Only with recent run-up in energy prices bringing these issues to the forefront has the GOP awakened.
Because we have no nuclear power plant building industry anymore and have to start from scratch. And before anyone out there asks the question, yes it is hard to build a nuclear power plant. Not just any engineering firm can do it.
Agree on first. Not on second. Nanosolar has developed a very fast and inexpensive process for producing solar cells. The CIGS (Copper-Indium-Gallium-Selenide) cells (15% efficient) are PRINTED on thin sheets of aluminum. A single production-size "printer" can produce 1 GW (equivalent to a 1000 MW nuclear plant) per year of cells for $1/watt or less if run at current production speed of 100 ft per minute. There are indications that that speed can be increased.
The ENTIRE energy requirement of the United States (not just electricity, but oil, gas, and coal) can be generated by an area ~150 miles on a side (since the US is ~3.5 million square miles, this is less than a postage stamp).
“Because we have no nuclear power plant building industry anymore and have to start from scratch. And before anyone out there asks the question, yes it is hard to build a nuclear power plant. Not just any engineering firm can do it.”
I don’t have time now to list all the companies in America but BECHTEL, for example, would disagree with you.
oh, and INTERGRAPH just came to mind...
And when was the last time they built one?
What do we do at night?
Bechtel = “just any engineering firm”?
“And when was the last time they built one?”
I have neither the time or the inclintation to do your research for you but you can start here:
Bechtel: The First Name in Nuclear
http://www.bechtel.com/assets/files/PDF/1107_First-Name-in-Nuclear.pdf
Good day,
Have to go to work now.
That 150 miles square includes enough excess capacity to handle the "day-night" (and yearly) cycle variation. Obviously, there would have to be some means of storage or alternate production. My own preference is to partner solar with nuclear, with nuclear sized for baseline and solar for peaking. An "all-solar" system would probably generate hydrogen and store it as relatively low-pressure (<1000 psig) gas.
But "what to do at night" is not a significant problem.
Any Engineers left on FR who could tell us how long it really should take to build a nuke plant, if the Government weren't involving themselves?
“And when was the last time they built one?”
Tennessee—Nuclear Plant Completion
Bechtel is leading engineering, procurement, and construction work on a $2.5 billion project to complete Unit 2 at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant in Spring City, Tennessee. The plant was mothballed in 1985 when it was about two-thirds complete. When it begins operation in 2012, Watts Bar Unit 2 will add approximately 1,200 megawatts of power to the Tennessee Valley Authority system, enough to serve 650,000 homes.
http://www.bechtel.com/New-Projects.html
Gotta go now...don’t forget to do your homework. LOL
Weird how these old movies look like “you were dumb enough to fall for this” when you see them today, isn’t it.
Recently, it appears:
"Indeed, Bechtel is still building nuclear reactors including the 1,450 megawatt nuclear reactor in Qinshan, China."
"Qinshan 3-B PHWR 665/728 Connected to the grid in July 2003"
There "are" other places to build nuclear reactors than the United States, y'know. ALL of the major US nuclear power plant design firms are still active (Westinghouse, GE, Bechtel.....)---just not in the USA.
What happened was that the plant shut it's self down as it was designed to do.
More people died in Ted Kennedy's Oldsmobile than died due to 3 Mile Island.
Why not 100 plants in 10 years?
Not enough plants, and not quick enough. If the French and Japanese can manage nuke plants for decades, why can’t we?
What is needed is a standardized and inherently safe design for nuclear plants that can be mass produced. Previous nukes were basically all one off designs based on old technology. Why not look to the US Navy who has decades of safe experience with nuclear power as a source for design expertise?
I somewhat familiar with what happened. BTW, I was slated to help decontaminate the containment vessel.
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