[ RadSafe ] RE: Turn off nuclear power, environmentalistsurge

Flanigan, Floyd Floyd.Flanigan at nmcco.com
Mon Apr 16 14:09:57 CDT 2007 

How about the L1X-75 ... Carbon fiber tech sports car ... 600
horsepower, 0-60mph in 3.1 seconds ALL electric. No emissions, period.
This thing looks like the new Corvette on steroids. Top speed is rumored
to be 175mph. The issue is the rumored $800K price tag. There are tons
of such examples of ecologically sound-minded technologies out there,
but the prices are out of this world. As for the compact fluorescents, I
have them all over the house and have yet to have to change one. They've
lasted for quite some time. Some over 2 years. I caught them on sale at
Menards and bought enough of them to do the entire house ... 34 bulbs at
last count. I think they were something like $8 for a 5-pack of them. 

Getting the masses to conserve ... ? Doubtfull on a massive scale. This
is the land of "Super Size Me" and getting the 96 ounce slurpie from
your local Seven-Eleven because it costs 10 cents more than the 20 ounce
drink. We've been programmed to consume by our media and ... let's face
it ... they prey on our baser instincts because it WORKS. When was the
last time you heard a car commercial that went like this:

"It's small, under-powered and the people who see you driving it will
think you're a great big wuss ... but it's sensible and, although it
will be absolutely zero fun for you to drive ... it's the right thing to
do. You might end up sleeping alone ... but at least you'll be able to
sleep."

The unfortunate thing is, a good deal of the people who have enough
money to afford some of the great innovations in conservation, don't
care to. They're so wrapped up in keeping up with the romanticized image
of wealth, they relegate such mundane things as conservation to the
slide-rule types and the tree-huggers. And the people who have trouble
paying their power bills and would love to conserve, can't afford most
of the technology out there that would really make a difference. And
those of us in the middle who do what they can, basically ad up to a
thimble of water being dipped out of Lake Michigan. Do you know how long
it would take to empty Lake Michigan one thimble at a time? 

Okay, okay ... I know ... Every thimble counts and if everyone would
just do their part ... Yah ... right. They can't even get everyone to
pick up the dog feces their respective pets leave in the park, even
under threat of a hefty fine. People tend not to think globally. The
$4/month they would save on electricity, when multiplied by 50 million
households is a staggering $200,000,000.00 per month. But to Joe
six-pack, $4 is just enough to get a pack of Camels or 2 beers down at
the local pub. Drop in the bucket. Not worth the worry.


Now ... fast-forward a few decades ... when it's a 95 degree August
afternoon and Joe six-pack goes to turn on the air-conditioner ... and
there's a brown-out in his neighborhood because the grid can't keep up
with the demand. No air-conditioning. Joe would love to have about $4
worth of ice cold beer right about now, but the local pub only opens in
late evening because businesses are on cycle rotation for power sharing
of the limited available electricity the grid can support. Then run the
conservation issue back up the flagpole and see if they're paying
attention.

Thing is, we really haven't suffered enough to be MADE to care. 
Good thing is, all things come to those who wait.


Floyd W. Flanigan B.S.Nuc.H.P.
Sr. Analyst

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On
Behalf Of Jim Hardeman
Sent: Monday, April 16, 2007 12:57 PM
To: Gary Damschen; radsafe at radlab.nl; Jack N Earley; ROY HERREN
Subject: RE: [ RadSafe ] RE: Turn off nuclear power,
environmentalistsurge

Roy et al. --
 
How about getting somebody to make LED lightbulbs -- which use about
1/100th the energy as an incandescent bulb with the same light output --
and which also don't generate (waste) heat, which has to be removed by
HVAC equipment? I've seen several manufactuers come out with them in
"small" sizes (such as nightlight bulbs or perhaps replacements for
halogen spots -- only not as bright). I use CF light bulbs for limited
applications (such as porch light, where the bulb burns 24/7), but the
ones I can obtain locally can't be dimmed, and for me that limits their
usability. I'd LOVE it if I could replace every bulb in my home
(affordably) with an LED light bulb -- it would save on lighting and A/C
expenditures.
 
Jim Hardeman
Jim_Hardeman at dnr.state.ga.us 

>>> ROY HERREN <royherren2005 at yahoo.com> 4/16/2007 13:48 >>>
   I am struck by the articles line, "That means an average yield of
about 100 megawatts, enough to supply about a quarter of the Tri-Cities'
power needs".  Perhaps those who are pushing for conservation aren't
completely out of line after all...  I for one am not too happy with
Compact Fluorescent (CF) light bulbs, they don't last nearly as long as
they are supposed to last and they are too expensive.  However, perhaps
through the use of emerging technologies we can curb our energy usage. 
A good example is the use of the newer flat panel monitors, LCD?,
instead of Cathode Ray Tubes.  The new monitors use about a quarter of
the energy of the old monitors and no doubt by converting to the new
monitors it helps to lower the cooling needs for large office buildings.
 We need to use our limited resources as wisely as possible.  This means
that we need "real" leadership to get people to voluntarily conserve
energy.  
   
  Roy    

"Earley, Jack N" <Jack_N_Earley at RL.gov> wrote: 
  Here's an article from 2001 you should enjoy. They had to cut back
the
size to avoid endangering ground squirrels.

http://www.tri ( http://www.tri/
)-cityherald.com/news/2001/0724/story2.html


Jack Earley
Health Physicist
509.372.9532

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---------------------------------
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Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos.
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