More Nuclear Power in MN??

[Halon]

http://www.tcbmag.com/peoplecompanies/companies/126483p1.aspx

Just thought I'd share this article for anyone who cares.

My company got an article published about them and Nuclear Power in Minnesota. We only have 2 Nuke plants in Minnesota, and there has been a ban in place for awhile, not allowing any new ones to be built. Sounds there may be a change of heart though, and some of our representatives are on board to try and lift that ban.

And, apparently Obama is starting to back nuclear power generation as well now, which I think is great.

Anyhow, just thought I'd share, and can't wait to hear Tom talk about how much of a travesty it is to have more nuclear plants :)

[mlomker]

I think it's a great idea. Technology has made leaps overseas and we just keep limping along with the older designs. A bit of genius, that.

[Kracka]

Agree, great idea!

[tpunx99GSX]

I love nuclear power, ::rolls eyes:: I just wish they would find a way to properly dispose of the waste it produces without affecting the environment. (and burying it in an indian reservation is not the proper way).

[Matt D.]

I just wish they would find a way to properly dispose of the waste it produces without affecting the environment.
You can't have your cake and eat it, too. What would you prefer, the countryside littered with inefficient wind generators and solar panels, or coal and gas plants polluting the air? I'd say the current ways that spent nuclear fuel is disposed of doesn't pose a threat to conservation of natural resources any more or less than the other forms for energy production. Storage pools are becoming full, but with the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel ramping up it turns nuclear power into being cleaner than anything else.

http://www.ctaps.yu.edu.jo/stpne/Symposium-Presentationns/Xounbi-The%20politics%20science%20Environment%20and%20com mon%20sense%20of%20SNF%20Reprocessing.pdf

[mlomker]

the countryside littered with inefficient wind generators and solar panels, or coal and gas plants polluting the air?

There are groups that protest solar and wind farms--the solar panels blight the natural landscape and wind farms are that and harmful to birds. Dams disrupt all kinds of wildlife...

All these people do is support burning fossil fuels, which *everybody* knows is bad and unsustainable.

[tpunx99GSX]

Honestly, I feel that if they can find a way to use the spent nuclear waste it would be great and wouldnt have any issues with it. But building more nuclear plants is investing in the wrong kind of energy. I believe Efficiency comes with R&D. Therefore instead of making wind farms, and solar farms, develop the energy farms at a smaller environment, then after they can say, "We have harnessed the power of the sun and wind" Then push the efficient farms and get rid of the nuclear power and coal. So a few birds get cut up, but at least they can breath clean air. So there are some eyesores in the desert. NO ONE LIVES THERE!

[Matt D.]

There are groups that protest solar and wind farms--the solar panels blight the natural landscape and wind farms are that and harmful to birds. Dams disrupt all kinds of wildlife...

All these people do is support burning fossil fuels, which *everybody* knows is bad and unsustainable.
Oh, I know. I'll take any alternate energy production over the use of fossil fuels. There are wind farms popping up all over southern Minnesota and Iowa, and they're always among fields of corn and such rarely ever ruining any amount of land. I've looked into what it takes to invest in something like that but could never find anything.
Honestly, I feel that if they can find a way to use the spent nuclear waste it would be great and wouldnt have any issues with it. But building more nuclear plants is investing in the wrong kind of energy. I believe Efficiency comes with R&D. Therefore instead of making wind farms, and solar farms, develop the energy farms at a smaller environment, then after they can say, "We have harnessed the power of the sun and wind" Then push the efficient farms and get rid of the nuclear power and coal. So a few birds get cut up, but at least they can breath clean air. So there are some eyesores in the desert. NO ONE LIVES THERE!
Reprocessing the spent nuclear fuel is doing just that, using it in other ways to create more energy and to make the unusable parts less harmful. The nuclear power plant is only 57 years old, with the first one producing a whopping 5 megawatts, and new ones producing over 1 gigawatt. Wind and solar energy are gaining ground every day, instead of electrical solar panels they are now using reflectors that heat a water pipe that in turn powers steam turbines. Efficiency does come with R&D, but it doesn't happen overnight.

The bad part about solar and wind is that it's unpredictable, where as nuclear is always there. The benefits of nuclear far outweigh those of any other renewable source of power we have right now.

Tom, in case you forgot.
Critics are people who cant DO, so they complain. So unless you can do something to fix this country, then please STFU, we dont need any more critics in this world.
;)

[Goat Blower]

Yes and no. Obama is happy to say nuclear is great all of the sudden, but then he trashes Yucca mountain, a waste repository that we spent $13.5B on and spent 25 years building. So we can build more plants but have less places to put the waste. Typical of this administration, dumb as a box of fucking rocks. I hope they all get sent to Guantanamo in 2012 for crimes of stupidity against the American people.

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jul/30/nation/na-yucca30

[asshanson]

Anyhow, just thought I'd share, and can't wait to hear Tom talk about how much of a travesty it is to have more nuclear plants

But building more nuclear plants is investing in the wrong kind of energy.

Lucky guess.

Anyway, nuclear is awesome, I hope they build more. I think people have been educated and are less afraid of it now compared to 10 or 20 years ago.