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

[Dukelow, James S Jr]

 A few years ago (2002) I heard a talk by Mike Foreman of the Institute
for Ocean Studies in Victoria, BC that asked and at least partially
answered the same question regarding the use of underwater turbines to
remove energy (turning it into electricity) from ocean currents around
Vancouver Island.  His answer was that there is a limit on how much
energy you can remove without essential changes in the system of ocean
currents.  A Google or Yahoo search might turn up more information.

Best regards.

Jim Dukelow
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Richland, WA
Jim.dukelow at pnl.gov

These comments have not been reviewed and/or approved by my management
or by the U.S. Department of Energy.

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On
Behalf Of Gary Damschen
Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 10:13 AM
To: radsafe at radlab.nl
Subject: [ RadSafe ] RE: Turn off nuclear power, environmentalists urge

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

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