[jogiba]

Japan shuts down its last working nuclear power reactor this weekend just over a year after a tsunami scarred the nation and if it survives the summer without major electricity shortages, producers fear the plants will stay offline for good.

The shutdown leaves Japan without nuclear power for the first time since 1970 and has put electricity producers on the defensive. Public opposition to nuclear power could become more deeply entrenched if non-nuclear generation proves enough to meet Japan's needs in the peak-demand summer months.


"Can it be the end of nuclear power? It could be," said Andrew DeWit, a professor at Rikkyo University in Tokyo who studies energy policy. "That's one reason why people are fighting it to the death."

World News - 'Can it be the end of nuclear power?' Japan to shut down last reactor

[eddie1960]

SAw that this morning. While I admire the move, I wonder what the alternative will be to meet their needs. If it's Coal/Oil/Gas it comes with other heavy prices. And Green energy is a long way from that kind of capability (though I imagine it will benefit from Japanese interest and tech.)
Hydro electric should be very doable for them I would think.

[riff]

I imagine it will benefit from Japanese interest and tech.

It would be very interesting to see what a truly motivated and technically advanced country that does long term planning (Japan) could come up with.

[jeffkrol]

LENR:

http://indico.cern.ch/getFile.py/access?resId=5&materialId=slides&confId=177379

1) Nuclear Transmutation of Radioactive Waste
2) Production of rare earth materials
3) Portable nuclear energy source

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UT...e-energiewende

---

Last edited by jeffkrol; 05-04-2012 at 09:57 AM.

[pete-tarmigan]

SAw that this morning. While I admire the move, I wonder what the alternative will be to meet their needs. If it's Coal/Oil/Gas it comes with other heavy prices. And Green energy is a long way from that kind of capability (though I imagine it will benefit from Japanese interest and tech.)
Hydro electric should be very doable for them I would think.

According to a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Nature of Things documentary, Japan sits on a limitless supply of hot springs because of its abundant volcanic activity. What are nuclear plants used for? To produce steam to turn turbines. Japan already has pressurized steam because of the hot springs. It doesn't need nuclear, coal, gas, or oil.

[eddie1960]

According to a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Nature of Things documentary, Japan sits on a limitless supply of hot springs because of its abundant volcanic activity. What are nuclear plants used for? To produce steam to turn turbines. Japan already has steam pressure because of the hot springs. It doesn't need nuclear, coal, gas, or oil.

but the hot springs are used as spas for people and have been for centuries. Good point though, there is no need for nuclear when you have that resource, you just need to harness it

[philbaum]

Good for Japan. The energy corporations in the US are too powerful, and the politicians too corrupt to allow such a ban in the US. Its going to take something like Japan's disaster for a similar ban in the US - so stupid.

The permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel was terminated this year by President Obama:

Siting just one nuclear waste repository has been a struggle for the federal
government. President Barack Obama terminated the controversial Yucca Mountain
repository project in Nevada after more than 25 years in development. Siting it
in the state has drawn massive local opposition, notably from Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat.

Seems like its illogical for the nuclear industry to have NO PLAN for disposal of its nuclear waste - but thats where American nuclear power is at. Right now all high level fuel waste is stored "temporarily" at the sites where it is created. Maybe they're hoping for a tsunami to wash it into the sea - not funny i know.

[eddie1960]

Good for Japan. The energy corporations in the US are too powerful, and the politicians too corrupt to allow such a ban in the US. Its going to take something like Japan's disaster for a similar ban in the US - so stupid.

The permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel was terminated this year by President Obama:



Seems like its illogical for the nuclear industry to have NO PLAN for disposal of its nuclear waste - but thats where American nuclear power is at. Right now all high level fuel waste is stored "temporarily" at the sites where it is created. Maybe they're hoping for a tsunami to wash it into the sea - not funny i know.

temporarily for the next few centuries or until a natural disaster deals with it for them, consequences be damned

[Wheatfield]

'Can it be the end of nuclear power?' Japan to shut down last reactor

While Japan shuts them down Canada restarts them.

Bruce A, Unit 2 is being ramped up.
2012 Information Updates - Bruce A Unit 2 restart activities resuming: minor moderator system repair complete

[pickles]

While Japan shuts them down Canada restarts them.

Bruce A, Unit 2 is being ramped up.
2012 Information Updates - Bruce A Unit 2 restart activities resuming: minor moderator system repair complete

Aahh, my friend, Mr Wheatfield.
Well, we have the same issues in Australia, but here we have another issue...the CARBON TAX....which is going to cause the downfall of the current Labor Govt (which I'm happy about)
We use brown coal to fuel our power generation...which is a MASSIVE pollutant....so whilst the govt allows us to use brown coal, they're also going to tax us, the consumer, for its use, because it creates emissions!
But they're exporting squillions of tons of the stuff to China, India etc....but they're not charging them a tax...and these countries will be generating MASSIVE emissions, using our brown coal.
So, what is the alternative,....the "Greenies" don't like Nuclear, but they don't like brown coal emissions either.....so mate, what is the answer?
Cheers, Pickles.

[D0n]

is it too soon to start selling "Fuk-U Nuclear Reactor" t shirts? or am I going back for more sensitivity training?

[ihasa]

I was listening to a Radio 4 documentary about molten salt and thorium reactors the other day. Apparently we could have avoided a lot of safety issues if we'd gone down that route (no risk of meltdown, much less waste) but plutonium was needed by the military so conventional reactors won out.

[Wheatfield]

Aahh, my friend, Mr Wheatfield.
Well, we have the same issues in Australia, but here we have another issue...the CARBON TAX....which is going to cause the downfall of the current Labor Govt (which I'm happy about)
We use brown coal to fuel our power generation...which is a MASSIVE pollutant....so whilst the govt allows us to use brown coal, they're also going to tax us, the consumer, for its use, because it creates emissions!
But they're exporting squillions of tons of the stuff to China, India etc....but they're not charging them a tax...and these countries will be generating MASSIVE emissions, using our brown coal.
So, what is the alternative,....the "Greenies" don't like Nuclear, but they don't like brown coal emissions either.....so mate, what is the answer?
Cheers, Pickles.

For myself, I think nukes are fine, but they are not "cheap", and aren't suited to all environments. We burn coal for electricity here as well. The (government owned) power company is very much at the forefront of low emission coal technology, and they are testing carbon sequestering as well.
The answer, as in all things is a compromise, where the "greenies" accept that there is going to be pollution, while the rest of us accept that it is prudent to keep pollution to a minimum.

[Medium FormatPro]

Its going to take something like Japan's disaster for a similar ban in the US

Three Mile Island still considered as the third worst nucler incident - if one wants to exclude items such as naval submarines. Most of the world will never know how close TMI came to gravely directly effecting millions of people

[Hawkes]

I was listening to a Radio 4 documentary about molten salt and thorium reactors the other day. Apparently we could have avoided a lot of safety issues if we'd gone down that route (no risk of meltdown, much less waste) but plutonium was needed by the military so conventional reactors won out.

There are fascinating types of nuclear reactors. The HTR is just one of them. The Chinese did a brave test some years ago. They have redrawn all controls rods and watched how the reactor went supercritical. This reactor type shuts itself down if cooling or something else fails just due to the cross-section of uranium. That's a strong belief in science

Anyway: While there are great types of reactors, it is questionable what problems would occur if a catastrophe like the tsunami last year in Japan happens again. The worst part is that there are only a few concepts how to handle the nuclear waste. As far as I know there are some radiactive wase repositories in progress but none ist finished though we've been using this technology for decades.

I don't know if the news reached you that we in Germany plan to quit using nuclear power plants after 2022. A decision which earned us a lot of laughter but I think it will be interesting if we can manage to produce our energy just by using renewable energy sources (80% until 2050 is the goal). This requires a lot of research as we need new methods of energy storage and new networks for energy transport. At the moment it doesn't look that good. We are able to produce a great amount of energy using renewable sources ( > 20%) but only about 10% is used as much of the energy is not needed when it is produced and we can't even export it because the energy network is bad and not designed for this kind of energy production.