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While Fission isn’t sustainable,
Fusion could be. In some aspects it already is. It’s always just 30
years away. They’ve sustained that for over 50 years. (Thanks to you non-Nevadans for your Business Environmental Program NSBDC-UNR (775) 689-6677 WRPPN is a proud member of P2Rx (www.P2Rx.org). P Please consider the environment before
printing this e-mail From: owner-p2tech@great-lakes.net
[mailto:owner-p2tech@great-lakes.net] On
Behalf Of John Calcagni Scott Nuclear can't ever be sustainable because
uranium and plutonium aren't renewable resources, any more than coal or oil
are. However, that said, if the supply of
nuclear fuel was so abundant that there was no risk of ever running out and we
addressed the extraction issues so the mining impacts were minimal,
accident risks were small, and the nuclear waste disposal issues were
addressed so their impacts were minimal, then nuclear energy could, in my
judgment be considered essentially sustainable. I'd first focus on assurance of a long
term supply - breeder reactors might be a factor in extending supply. Assuring its mining and extraction do not
ravage the earth would be your second challenge. Not familiar enough with
its consequences to be helpful here. Risk from a meltdown could also impact
this but biofuel refineries can burn down too so I'm not sure here.
However changing the design to systems which naturally shut down when they malfunction
rather than heat up (sodium based systems?) Finally its disposal would have to be a
lot more certain than a shaft in Yucca mountain in These are the idle musings of a scruffy, distractible,
overweight nerd. Anyway that's how I would structure a study to assess how
sustainable nuclear energy could be made. From:
owner-p2tech@great-lakes.net [mailto:owner-p2tech@great-lakes.net] On Behalf Of Butner, R Scott Fellow
P2TECH-ies -- Well,
can it? And
if the answer is "yes" -- what would it take to make it so?
These
are not idle musings on the part of a scruffy, distractable, overweight nerd,
either. Nope.
Not idle in the least. (The
rest is pretty much spot on, of course.) I
ask these questions because I've been approached about making a presentation on
this topic at a conference which is coming up later this fall, and wish to
gather some informed perspectives on the subject. As I often do when
faced with a question that's over my head, technically, I've come to P2TECH in
hopes of finding some bits of wisdom. And maybe some viewpoints that
challenge my own. I
recognize this is an open-ended question -- I think by now we all have a grasp
of what the notion of sustainability means, but am not sure I've seen anything
really robust in terms of quantifiable definitions. Yes,
I'm aware of any number of sustainability metrics and indicators that have been
used (and in fact plan to use them prominently in my talk). But
most of these metrics allow for more wiggle room than my most comfy blue jeans,
now that I've lost 22 lbs. (had
to sneak that in there, somewhere!) So
consider it an invitation to open-ended answers, as well. If
you have an opinion regarding either question: whether nuclear power CAN
be sustainable, or what it would take to MAKE it sustainable -- I'm eager to
hear it. If I end up using your ideas in my talk, I'll be sure to provide
appropriate attribution. The
conference is in mid-November, but I'd be especially interested in comments I
receive early enough to incorporate into a broader framework -- say, Oct
1. I'll
be sure to share the presentation with any who wish to see it, once it's been
prepared. Thanks
in advance, |