[ RadSafe ] Global Warming

Tue Dec 8 19:36:02 CST 2009

Stephane:

      You ask, "But can anyone here tell me that 
we have improved the radwaste aspect in 20 
years?"  The answer is yes, we certainly have.

      Most of today's reactors (CANDUs and LWRs) 
are "thermal" -- the neutrons are moderated 
(slowed down) before they cause their 
fissions.  Thermal reactors are inherently unable 
to utilize more than a percent of the energy in 
the mined uranium -- usually less -- and their 
"waste" (which really is slightly used fuel) 
contains the long-lived transuranic isotopes 
(TRU) that give people heartburn when they start 
imagining terrible things happening 10,000 years 
down the road, if the stuff should happen to dissolve in the ground water.

      So, enter fast reactors.  Because of their 
better neutron economy, they are able to consume 
all the actinides -- uranium and transuranics, 
including plutonium -- and therefore can function 
in comfortable symbiosis at the back end of the 
thermal-reactor fuel cycle.  Arguably, the best 
fast-reactor design is the Integral Fast Reactor 
(IFR), developed at Argonne National Laboratory 
in the 1980s and '90s, in a program that was 
cancelled for non-technical reasons by the 
Clinton administration in 1994 -- just as it was 
getting ready for a commercial demonstration.  At 
present there is a growing movement to proceed 
with that commercial-scale demo.  Meanwhile, 
India and China, for two, are pushing ahead with 
their own fast-reactor programs.

      Anyway, Canada I am told is preparing to 
waste some $24 billion to drill boreholes for 
getting rid of spent fuel -- even though it is a 
major energy resource, containing 100 times as 
much energy as it so far has yielded.  Someone 
should tell the planners that their $24 billion 
would build at least 3 GWe of IFRs -- maybe 6 or 
8 GWe -- which would be enough to sequester 
securely the long-lived TRU from 150 - 400 
GWe-years of CANDU power (maybe all that exists), 
producing economical energy to boot.

     Then the only waste would consist of fission 
products, which can be easily isolated in various 
ways for 300 - 500 years, by which time their 
radioactivity has decayed below any reasonable level of concern.

      Lots of details can be found on the Web and 
in print.  In case you want to dig further, here are some recommended links:

< http://tinyurl.com/2dlfwy >
< http://www.nationalcenter.org/NPA378.html >
< http://tinyurl.com/2gnctw >
< http://tinyurl.com/34uxob >
< http://www.prescriptionfortheplanet.com/ >
< http://www.beyondfossilfools.com/ >
< http://www.skirsch.com/politics/globalwarming/ifr.htm >

      Cheers,

      -- George

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At 03:29 PM 12/8/2009, Jean-Francois, Stephane wrote:
Interesting piece of paper. I choose not to 
comment it because it is as predictable as a Greenpeace paper...

Regarding nuclear power, one thing need to be 
explained, it was denied by Kyoto protocol as a 
mean to mitigate CO2 levels and THAT may be the 
turning point for nuclear power. Why was it denied you may ask ?

Rad waste.

The long lived isotopes are deemed "unfair" for 
future generations thus this solution does not 
stick with sustainable development schemes and 
the principle of equity with generations that was 
part of the Kyoto protocol. The fact that nuclear 
does not produce greenhouse gas is a good selling 
argument for nuclear power plants, but it will 
not stick for all sustainable development 
advocates. I, for once, would like to see more 
nuclear plants, to close the coal plants at 
least, and work progressively on improving the 
radwaste, spent fuel aspect. But can anyone here 
tell me that we have improved the radwaste aspect 
in 20 years ? Please say so. That is in my 
opinion, relevant radsafe discussion.

Now, I am only puzzled by one thing: Only North 
Americans are complaining about having to find 
new ways of producing clean energy and reducing 
CO2 levels. We find it normal to consume fossil 
resources like we do...because we produce more, someone said....More what ?

In the mean time, the Europeans, with their cap 
and trade policies are exchanging billions of 
dollars in emission rights in the Carbon market. 
We are trying here with RGGI and the very shy 
Chicago exchange, but without cap, there is no 
serious trading. Many companies, like Biothermica 
here in Canada, are getting richer with the new 
economy. But we are simply watching the train 
pass, complain and count on good old fossil fuel. 
And this discussion trend confirms that we are 
used with the good old, unsustainable, American 
way of life and can't see innovation in this CO2 opportunity.

My opinion only.

Stéphane Jean-François
_____________________________________________________________________________
Stéphane Jean-François, Eng., M. Env., CHP. | 
Manager, Environment and Health Physics
Safety and Environment | Canada Site Functions
Merck Frosst Canada, Ltd. | 16711 TransCanada 
Hwy. | Kirkland, QC, Canada H9H 3L1
Office: #9-2-448 | P: 514-428-8695 | f:  514-428-8670 |
stephane_jeanfrancois at merck.com

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl 
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On Behalf Of Earley, Jack N
Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2009 3:47 PM
To: 'radsafe at radlab.nl'
Subject: [ RadSafe ] Global Warming

This showed up in the site media highlights 
today. It's similar to what some say about 
nuclear power: Don't promote it-when they're 
sitting in their cold, dark houses, they'll beg for it.

A radical plan to save the Earth
BY MORGAN LIDDICK

Let's assume for a moment, despite the recently 
revealed book-cooking and data-dumping, that the 
anthropogenic global-warming crowd is on to 
something. If we're really going to cook within 
20 years, we better do more than commit economic 
suicide at the upcoming 'Copenhagen speechfest.

Instead, let's use the threat of imminent 
roastage to institute a full-throttle, 
all-hands-on-deck, no-holds-barred campaign to 
develop new sources of energy. ''The equivalent 
of war," to borrow a phrase from a former 
president. And let's see how many of those 
currently finger-wagging over our production of 
greenhouse gasses are willing to go along. The 
following are a few of the steps which will be required -if we're serious.

Treble the federal tax on petroleum-based motor 
fuels to 55 cents a gallon, and mandate that all 
states do the same. Yes, that will immediately 
raise the price of just about everything any 
American buys since transportation is a 
significant cost element, and yes, "the poor" are 
going to be shellacked by these increases, but 
sacrifices are necessary -we have a planet to 
save. Right? Oh, and no subsidies for anyone. All 
this money -potentially, more than $170 billion 
annually -is going to build "smart" transportation infrastructure.

Impose an additional 1 0 percent Federal Excise 
Tax on electricity not produced by wind, solar, 
hydropower or nuclear plants. Use the tens of 
billions of dollars generated to fund research 
into alternative and renewable energy sources. 
Eliminate all subsidies and tax breaks for 
"green" building or retrofitting, also applying 
the money saved to research and development. 
That's going to increase the real cost of 
installing energy-efficient appliances, but if 
"Earth is in the balance," it's high time people 
stepped up and did the right thing without being 
bribed. We'll bludgeon them instead. And I'm 
certain the National Renewable Energy Laboratory 
would be happy to expand many times as a result.

Streamline the process for licensing new nuclear 
power plants, and establish a program within the 
Department of Energy to bring them online fast. 
That means, among other things, exemptions from 
nuisance lawsuits. Nuclear plants produce large 
amounts of base load electricity -necessary in a 
Brave New World of wind and solar, which are by 
their nature intermittent -and they do it without 
producing carbon dioxide. So if that gas is 
really the villain of the piece, we've got to use 
every tool in the shed to do away with it, right?

And yes, part of the above will be opening the 
national Nuclear Waste Repository at Yucca 
Mountain in Nevada. If it really is a choice 
between the desertification of North America and 
a few people having to conquer their 
quasi-religious fear of spent nuclear fuel, well 
... out of the way, Harry Reid. You can't be a roadblock to saving the Earth.

Speaking of roadblocks: if we are serious about 
developing wind and solar as alternate energy 
sources, major portions of our environmental laws 
are going to have to be rewritten, particularly 
pertaining to protected species. Right now, a 
lawsuit over the presence of two -count 'em, two 
-Mojave Flat-Tailed Lizards has halted 
construction of a 10-square-mile solar power 
facility in California's Mojave Desert. If our 
situation is as dire as it has been portrayed, 
sorry -lizards have even less right than Senator 
Reid to impede efforts to stave off the 
climatological apocalypse. Besides, I hear that 
properly cooked, they taste like chicken ...

Similar adjustments are necessary for wind 
turbine farms -too bad for all those small 
Eastern-plains towns who don't particularly care 
to morph into Dr. Frankenstein's v1ersion of 
Holland, but ... you know the drill. Oh, and 
we're going to have to repeal most of the laws on 
"view impingement," since many more high-tension 
transmission lines are going to have to be built. 
No use building solar or wind farms if you can't get the power to market. !

So undertaken, a program that dedicates our 
national focus and treasure (sorry, no national 
health. Gotta save the planet first ...) might 
create more than it destroys, True, many 
Americans would be impoverished and unemployed 
-at least until they got the proper j6b skills. 
And the national economy would go through a major 
downturn, until it adjusted to far more e*pensive 
energy. But Westinghouse, or General Electric, or 
a company no one's heard of yet may come Jp with 
new technologies that once again make our country 
an economic powerhouse, saving the Earth and 
enriching its stockholders beyond the dreams of avarice.

All it takes is for those who wail about our 
profligate ways to agree that we need not concede 
our economic future to India and China, but to 
begin a concerted effort, now. And to stand fast 
when the howling from their allies of convenience 
on the Left gets loud, as a succession of oxen are gored.

I feel cooler already.

Summit County resident Morgan Liddick pens a 
Tuesday column. E-mail him at 
mcliddick at hotmail.com. Also, comment on this column at www.summitdaily.com.

Jack Earley
Environmental Integration
Radioactive Air Emissions, Radioactive Waste Management, & Quality Assurance
509.376.3667  Fax 509.376.2816

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