[ RadSafe ] RE: Turn off nuclear power, environmentalists urge

[Gary Damschen]

Has anyone studied the environmental impact of removing the equivalent of
1000MWe of solar irradiation from a concentrated area or what would happen
to New Jersey's weather patterns if the entire state's electrical energy
needs were met by removing gigawatts of energy from the prevailing winds?
The energy collected by wind farms is not free. If the wind's energy is
reduced, it stands to reason that thermal mixing of the near-earth
atmosphere would be affected, perhaps even cloud formation and behavior as
well. So what would happen to cooling and heating patterns? Removing a
little energy to power something relatively small probably has little
measurable effect. Remove a nuke plant from the grid and replace it with
solar/wind and I bet you might see some results at least locally. Also, what
happens to the state's power supply if a hurricane comes through (rare, but
it does happen)?

-Gary