Few See Nuclear Power as the Answer to Global Warming - NYTimes.com

[bananas]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/business/businessspecial2/24NUKE.html

<snip>

Worries about carbon dioxide and galloping demand for electricity might seem to be setting the stage for a renaissance of nuclear power. But reactors, it turns out, are not at the top of the list for stopping global warming, at least in the United States, at least not any time soon.

Among the issues are the cost of nuclear power, fears about safety and questions about how to dispose of waste.

Even its boosters say nuclear power is not a short-term solution. In July, for example, Exelon, the nation’s largest nuclear operator and one of its largest electric companies, promised to cut greenhouse gas emissions from its own operations and from smokestacks of its suppliers by 15 million tons a year by 2020. It drew a chart showing how much it could save through efficiency improvements and by switching to natural gas from coal.

Strikingly, it omitted from the list any savings from a new nuclear plant, because Exelon did not think it could finish a new plant by 2020. If electric power demand continues to rise, as seems likely, the nuclear power industry will be hard-pressed to maintain its market share, much less displace the main carbon dioxide emitters — plants that burn coal. Simply staying even would mean building another 10 reactors or so a year.

<snip>

[Iterate]

1. Enhanced geothermal power...

offers a much more attractive baseline option -carbon free, technologically simpler, and without the dangers and costs of nuclear power. This is not the older version geothermal that is based on shallow hot springs. It uses much deeper -5km or so- wells drilled into hot dry rock formations that occur throughout the western states. Deeper drilling to 10km would make it available in most states. The aggressive development of geological survey, deep drilling, and heat extraction technology would quickly put American companies and workers in the position to be world-wide leaders.

I'd like to see this become a campaign issue as it would, or should, be popular in the west, less so in West Virginia and PA.

[stopbush]

2. Why does no one talk about the shortage of nuclear fuel?

We have a 50-year supply, tops. Build more nuke plants and the supply exhausts even faster. Double the amount of nuke plants currently in the world and the supply exhausts in 12 years.

Elephant in the room, folks, irrespective of the waste issues.

[Iterate]

3. Exactly.

If there are 10 options for generating electricity, why pick the 9th worst one?

And if anyone says "breeder reactors", they've conveniently forgotten how badly that went.