germanys nuke abandonment called into question, page-7

Morning again WC8 - good to continue to have civilized discussions, isn't it ? ;)

While Germany is trumpeting its move "away from nuclear" - which is, in fact, just a return to the status quo they alredy had, India has announced INCREASES in it nuclear power generation by EIGHT TIMES the number of power plants that Germany are allegedly closing.

And that's not counting China's increasing committment to nuclear.

About 20% of the population of India have NO ELECTRICITY AT ALL...! Sobering thought, for one of the world's most advanced emerging economies. And all those people WANT power.

We've just seen an increase in the number of people in Japan dying from heatstroke, as the lack of power due to the shutdown of several of their nuclear plants, has meant that people are having to turn off their airconditioners. Entire cities and populatins have been built with either central heating or airconditioning (or both) in mind, particularly all those high-rise apartment blocks that depend on power for everything from heating/cooling to elevators to get to them. None of those buildings can survive without power.

Our typical Queenslander houses, on stilts for cooling (and using woodfires for heating) - we live in one - could survive in terms of temperature control and access, along with cooking on the BBQ. But the vast majority of the world's big cities NEED power. And they won't get that from wind, wave, or sunshine.

In terms of windmills, do you realize that it takes approx 700Kg of rare earths - mainly neodymium - to make just ONE wind turbine that generates 3 MW of power?

Yet we have Greenies now objecting to rare earths mining ventures (China controls 97% of the world's rare earths) because they are mildly radioactive, often found in conjunction with thorium, and sometimes uranium.

The irony of Greens being anti-rare earths is striking, and they probably don't even realise it!

But I still say that nuclear power is here to stay, at least for decades, and will increase. Events like Fukushima will fade into the history of the learning process, and while never forgotten, will help to improve even further the safety aspects of the design and operation of nuclear power plants. Just like Chernobyl did. And Three Mile Island. They didn't affect the longer term development of nuclear power, but they did highlight the design features that needed to be improved to increase safety and efficiency.