One of the chief objections to nuclear power is the catastrophic implications of nuclear accidents or leaks. No better examples of that danger can be found in the aftermath of the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear disasters. Reports out this week show precisely how lasting such damage can be.
You know Dasher and Dancer
And Prancer and Vixen,
Comet and Cupid
And Donner and Blitzen.
But do you recall
The most famous reindeer of all?
Geiger the radioactive reindeer
That may be the new lyrics coming out of Norway where the country has been recording rising levels of radioactivity among Norway’s grazing animals, especially its reindeer population. It has been roughly 30 years since the nuclear plant explosion in Chernobyl, but the radioactive contamination continues to be registered among roaming animals as well as plant life.
In September, 8200 becquerel per kilo of the radioactive substance Caesium-137 was measured in reindeer in comparison to a prior high of 1500 becquerel among the reindeer in September 2012.
The reason appears to be radioactive mushrooms. The longer than usual mushroom season has allowed a greater and higher range of mushroom production. The gypsy mushroom in particular can have absurdly higher levels of radioactivity.
Caesium-137 has a physical half-life of 30 years.
In the meantime, the typhoon in Asia has led to new water leaks of radioactive rainwater at Fukushima on Monday. TEPCO has had an appalling record at the plant and has been responsible for a series of incorrect estimates and leaks of radioactive water. Such contamination is continuing with bad weather like this week. The leak thus far does not appear to have reached the ocean but TEPCO is viewed by many as a highly unreliable source of information. Just last February, a new leak was disclosed at the plant. About 100 metric tons (26,400 gallons) of water may have escaped a concrete barrier.
The ongoing contamination from both disasters shows the massive costs and lingering problems associated with this technology. Not easy to track are the collateral costs of cancer and illness associated with such exposure and contamination.
On the topic of solar power as an alternative, I had a solar panel installer evaluate my house and the price was astounding, much more than what I had expected it to be based upon research I had done. I suspect that much of the government and utility company incentives that are offered to the consumer are being built into the bid so that the vendors can take a big bite out of that dollar pie. The marketing was that the system would pay for itself in six years. But, it is based upon mostly the 30% federal tax credit, which some can and cannot benefit from, a sales tax exemption, and a buyback program from the utility on surplus energy generated. I suspect this was what the vendors focused on, that is the message to the consumer was “it can pay for itself in six years” rather than “this is what the cost is” Without these incentives, it would take probably just under twenty years to pay for itself at the cost quoted.
There is so much promise and freedom in generating one’s own solar power. But the punishing costs are truly frustrating. I have read that fortunately there are two very large solar panel factories under construction in the US by two of the largest solar panel producers, which have up until this point focused on the commercial market. When these two competitors are up and running with mass production it is anticipated the installation cost will drop from 6 dollars per watt down to 2. Hopefully this will alleviate some of the cost problems.
Darren – I looked into the rental thing but the system has to stay with the house so when you sell, you selling the new owners the contract for the solar as well. Sadly, my wife has gotten the wanderlust and has been looking at new homes. Some come with the solar installed.
Paul, that is the way to go. If I was a housing developer and the environment / weather / location issues were reasonable I would install the panels on the houses and in such a way they were not distracting and out of view from the front if possible. If the installation was subcontracted out on a development wide scale and the materials bought directly from the manufacturer there would be great cost reduction. And, it would be ready to go for the purchasers. But the manufacturing cost needs to come down quite a bit, which I expect it will in around four years. I would think solar powered homes would be a good selling point.
Darren – we get 360 days of sun light here or something like that. Solar is feasible if it is affordable.
Speaking of energy, the costs of natural gas also include environmental disasters of flammable water and earth quakes. How about waste water contaminating your drinking water?
http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/312-16/26301-confirmed-billions-of-gallons-of-fracking-waste-contaminate-drought-ravaged-californias-aquifers
Almost 3 billion gallons of oil industry wastewater have been illegally dumped into central California aquifers that supply drinking water and farming irrigation, according to state documents obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity. The wastewater entered the aquifers through at least nine injection disposal wells used by the oil industry to dispose of waste contaminated with fracking fluids and other pollutants.
The documents also reveal that Central Valley Water Board testing found high levels of arsenic, thallium and nitrates — contaminants sometimes found in oil industry wastewater — in water-supply wells near these waste-disposal operations.
“Clean water is one of California’s most crucial resources, and these documents make it clear that state regulators have utterly failed to protect our water from oil industry pollution,” said Hollin Kretzmann, a Center attorney. “Much more testing is needed to gauge the full extent of water pollution and the threat to public health. But Governor Brown should move quickly to halt fracking to ward off a surge in oil industry wastewater that California simply isn’t prepared to dispose of safely.”
The state’s Water Board confirmed beyond doubt that at least nine wastewater disposal wells have been injecting waste into aquifers that contain high-quality water that is supposed to be protected under federal and state law.
Thallium is an extremely toxic chemical commonly used in rat poison. Arsenic is a toxic chemical that can cause cancer. Some studies show that even low-level exposure to arsenic in drinking water can compromise the immune system’s ability to fight illness. “Arsenic and thallium are extremely dangerous chemicals,” said Timothy Krantz, a professor of environmental studies at the University of Redlands. “The fact that high concentrations are showing up in multiple water wells close to wastewater injection sites raises major concerns about the health and safety of nearby residents.”
Nuclear is one of the most expensive forms of energy when waste disposal and leak cleanup is factored in. Oil is also very expensive in the same way. Many of the nuclear power plants in the US are in various states of disrepair but the dangers are “mitigated”. One that I know about, the core has several thru-cracks, it would take much of a seismic activity to shift the plates such that the rods cannot be lowered to shut down the reactor. The reactor is still on-line.
If the money being spent on “clean” coal reactors was instead spent of solar, we’d be able to reduce our dependence of fossils fuels immensely.
Karen, Also, another benefit that the anti-nuke groups should like about the LFTR design is that it can use decommissioned weapons grade Pu as a fuel.
Paul – hahahaha!
slohrss29 – “I don’t think most know what a salt reactor is.”
True enough. Plus to add to the confusion there are fluoride high-temperature reactors, (FHRs) These are molten salt cooled reactors which are nothing like LFTR’s. The miss-information out there can be depressing but I can get excited when the topic comes up and can help push the information.
Jim – I like the idea where the reaction ceases when the fuels separate. And having a reactor that actually runs on nuclear waste could be a solution to the very problem of nuclear waste. I’m not keen on just sealing it up in barrels. So this could be a solution.
Jim, I think it’s more the NRC than anyone else right now. I don’t think most know what a salt reactor is. From what I have read, the thorium people won’t issue a permit to build a new experimental reactor. There is the one in Oak Hill, TN that got pushed aside as you point out above.
The 1945 Parallels are important. It is similar to the Reichstag Fire Decree and the parallels to 9/11. The nuclear bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima were needed and well deserved. The Fukishima disaster was self inflicted. In a way, both were self inflicted if you take into account the Rape of Nanking and Pearl Harbor. But notice that the world is itchingBay a lot longer after Fukishima.
BarkingDog – what the heck are the 1945 Parallels?
Paul C. Schulte – “Karen – I think they should not be able to build a road until they can prove there will be no accidents on it and if there is, it will be cleared in 15 minutes.”
Paul, It’s really too bad that this technology wasn’t developed during the time of the Wright Bros. If it were, we would all be using it today. Could you just imagine in today’s world trying to develop the airplane? With our red tape govt. it would never get off the ground, literally. The late 1800’s to early 1900’s to me were Americas renaissance period. Today, we only get the latest narcissistic enabling device from Apple.
More on the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molten-Salt_Reactor_Experiment
http://moltensalt.org/references/static/downloads/pdf/NAT_MSREexperience.pdf
Arithmetic can be confusing?
“Energy Source Mortality Rates; Deaths/yr/TWh” is not dimensionally accurate.
(Deaths/yr/TWh) = ((Deaths * TWH) / yr)
Correctly stated, the energy source mortality rates are in units of:
(Deaths / (yr * TWh) )
Or in English, “Deaths per TerraWatt Year”
Silly blunders happen with those who are perhaps somewhat innumerate.
Reference: John Allen Paulos, Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences, Hill and Wang, New York, 1988.
Example from my memory recall: A news report about a motor vehicle incident stated that the driver of the motor vehicle had been traveling at a high rate of speed.
Well, traveling at a high speed is not the same as traveling at a high rate of speed, because a rate of speed is an acceleration and not a speed.
For the innumerate, numeracy is as though irrelevant to life and life experience?
I find that innumeracy is the result of situational factors outside a person’s actual locus of control, therefore the innumerate are not at fault for so being.
slohrss29 – “The development does seem to be getting resistance here, my bet would be because it competes with existing infrastructure, and since the people who own it, now regulate it… well….”
Don’t forget the misguided public who take headlines like JT wrote or listen to the likes of Jane Fonda.
Karen, YES! Keep reading and researching. You will come to discover LFTR (Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor). The sodium based reactors run at atmospheric pressure so the containment vessel doesn’t need to be like a light water reactor. The reaction stops as soon as the fuels are separated. They built a working years ago but the DOD chose the light water design since it’s byproduct was enriched Pu for weapons.
WRX–you make a good point. The molten salt thorium reactors provide a very exciting alternative. Much less volatile, so it doesn’t need the physical plant a weapons grade plant needs. Availability is good, and environment impact is much better. Guess that’s why the Chinese and Indians are looking into it. I think India has some plants underway. The development does seem to be getting resistance here, my bet would be because it competes with existing infrastructure, and since the people who own it, now regulate it… well….
This is an interesting innovation – Transatomic Power that uses nuclear waste as fuel. Again, the issue will always be can a leak be prevented and/or contained.
http://transatomicpower.com/white_papers/TAP_White_Paper.pdf
One of the things that I really dig about the Thorium reactor is its scalability. They have potential to be small enough to be used in trains, large truck and cars. The really cool part about the car concept is the power plant could be plugged into your house when you got home. Also, the power plant would most likely outlive the vehicle it powered so you would only need to purchase a new car “shell” for your power plant.
Sad.
This is also why I oppose offshore oil wells. The last leak demonstrated that they were unable to quickly cap it. It gushed for so long. They shouldn’t be allowed to drill offshore until they can demonstrate the ability to almost immediately seal off a leak, with a series of backup measures.
Karen – I think they should not be able to build a road until they can prove there will be no accidents on it and if there is, it will be cleared in 15 minutes.
It would also seem that the full potential benefits from safe reactor designs has not yet been exploited. The same plant used for power generation can also fuel desalination and hydrogen generation with adaptations. Both of these may become critical hybrid benefits in the future.
Thanks for keeping the issue highlighted; though I would add North America cannot be excluded from the discussion. A quick breeze through enenews.com reveals multiple nuclear mishaps occurring on the home turf.