Why NUKE PLANTS are Still Dangerous and Unreliable

[Rick Rowlands]

The article seems to me that all of the safety provisions in the plant functioned as intended, and that conscientious operators made appropriate decisions.  These are examples why these plants are SAFE, not unsafe.   If you had a basic understanding of how condensers work you would know that the higher the cooling water temperature the more of it is required to perform the same cooling.  Since a river has a limited supply of water you reach a point where your cooling needs are greater than the river's ability to provide for them.  Once that point is reached the plant as to be shut down.  Any first year thermodynamics student could tell you that.

One of the largest biomass plants on the east coast produces only 80 MW, while the Perry Nuclear power plant produces 1,231 MW.  Fifteen of these "largest on the east coast" biomass plants would be required to equal the output of one nuclear plant.

[Towntalk]

Information from Dominion Web Site:

Dominion

Dominion, BP Announce Plans to Evaluate Potential Wind Farms in Tazewell County, Wise County, Va.

RICHMOND, Va., Jan. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Dominion and BP Wind Energy North America Inc. announced today that they are evaluating wind energy projects in Tazewell County, Va. and Wise County, Va. These potential wind facilities represent the first projects announced since Dominion and BP said in April 2008 that they had entered into an agreement to jointly own, operate and develop wind energy projects in Virginia. Both projects would be subject to all applicable local, state and federal permits and approvals.
The exact size of each project and scope of economic benefits have not been determined.
Thomas F. Farrell II, Dominion's chairman, president and chief executive officer, said: "This is a small but important step for Virginia's nascent wind industry, an industry whose roots must grow stronger if the state is to achieve its renewable energy goals. Dominion is committed to increasing renewable generating capacity, and these projects would move us closer to fulfilling that commitment."
David Stoner, senior vice president, BP Wind Energy, said: "Several areas in the state of Virginia have reasonable wind resources and wind power is a key component of delivering a diverse and adequate energy supply for future generations of Americans. If wind power is developed in the right way, in the right places, it offers a very attractive option as part of the energy mix."
These potential wind farms in Tazewell and Wise counties would be developed by Dominion's Virginia electric utility subsidiary and BP Wind Energy North America Inc.
Earlier this month, Dominion's Virginia electric utility subsidiary and BP Wind Energy purchased about 2,560 acres of land in Tazewell County.
In addition to the joint venture in Virginia, Dominion and BP are partners in 650 megawatts of the 750-megawatt Fowler Ridge Wind Farm in Benton County, Ind.

Dominion, Shell Complete NedPower Mount Storm Wind Project

- First Dominion wind facility in growing renewable portfolio
- Generating wind energy for customers in mid-Atlantic
- Largest wind operation in Shell's wind portfolio

MT. STORM, W.Va., Dec. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Dominion and Shell WindEnergy Inc. (Shell) announced today the completion of the NedPower Mount Storm LLC wind energy project in which they each own a 50 percent interest. Sited along the high ridges of West Virginia, the project is now fully operational, generating up to 264 megawatts of electricity from a renewable energy source for the mid-Atlantic power grid.
NedPower Mount Storm, whose construction began in 2006, is located about 120 miles west of Washington, D.C. in Grant County, W.Va. The project consists of 132 wind turbines along 12 miles of the Allegheny Front, and can generate enough electricity to serve about 66,000 homes and businesses.
Thomas F. Farrell II, Dominion's chairman, president and chief executive officer, said:
"Dominion has about 1,300 megawatts of renewable generation in operation, under construction or in development. Renewables, conservation and other forms of generation -- including clean coal and emissions-free nuclear -- can and must play increasingly important roles in providing for America's energy needs."
Marvin Odum, president of Shell Oil Company, said:
"The NedPower Mount Storm project provides emissions-free power from a non-depleting source into a market serving the populous mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The delivery of this project not only adds to the economic activity of West Virginia but also contributes to the diversity of energy supplies we need in order to meet the energy challenge facing the United States. With the completion of NedPower Mount Storm, Shell is involved in wind projects with an overall capacity of 1,100 megawatts."
Output from the wind farm will be sold into PJM Interconnection, a regional transmission operator and wholesale electricity market serving 51 million people in 13 states and the District of Columbia.

Pittsylvania Power Station
Dominion's Pittsylvania Power Station, an 80-megawatt facility in Hurt, Va., is one of the largest biomass power stations on the East Coast. Dominion purchased Pittsylvania Power Station in 2004. Pittsylvania's sole source for producing electricity is from burning wood chips. More than 90 percent of its supply is waste wood that would otherwise be dumped into landfills or inefficiently burned.
At Pittsylvania, leftovers from sawmills, logging operations and paper mills are put to good use providing electricity. The station supplies enough electricity to power about 20,000 houses.
Two enormous, aromatic piles of wood chips — each about the size of a four-story building — are among the first things noticed by visitors arriving at the station. An estimated 3,300 tons of waste wood is unloaded each day at Pittsylvania, which translates to about 150 truckloads.
High-lifts load the wood chips onto a system of conveyer belts that eventually lead to three stoker boilers that burn the wood. Just as with coal-fired power stations, steam is generated to power the turbines that produce electricity.
Fly ash and bottom ash produced at the station are reused as fertilizer at local farms and as landfill cover.
Similar to other renewable stations, the effects of Pittsylvania's emissions are more environmentally friendly because the station produces very low levels of sulfur dioxide. Another key advantage of wood fuel is that it is "carbon neutral," meaning it does not result in any net addition of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
Although biomass burned as a fuel emits carbon dioxide, scientists consider the process to be "carbon neutral" because an equal amount of carbon is released into the atmosphere that would have been returned to it when the trees decayed as part of their natural life cycle.
The Pittsylvania station is part of Dominion's commitment to reaching the Virginia target of 12 percent of renewable generation by 2022.

[sfc_oliver]

Lots of safety standards built into our Nuclear energy plants, just as I'm sure there are in France. But as we see in France they have a plan for the contingency. As I am certain we do also. You notice France shut the rectors down before there was a problem because they monitor for possible problems.

I wonder just how much the batteries that we have currently will pollute once the sun can no longer charge them? Seems as though many new batteries for our electronics are supposed to be handled special and not just thrown in the trash. And just how large will they have to be? is this something that solar power is being held up for?

[Towntalk]

When was the last time that we had such a power plant had to be shutdown?

Other than when a storm knocked out power, or when some animal got into a power station, or when someone broke into a power station to steal copper, I can't remember any.

YEP, the power coming into your house and mine comes from a nuclear power plant.

[irishbobcat]

Why NUKE PLANTS are Still Dangerous and Unreliable

Heat Wave Forces French to Shut Down Nuclear Plants and Import U.K. Electricity. By Robin Pagnamenta, London Times, July 3, 2009. "France is being forced to import electricity from Britain to cope with a summer heatwave that has helped to put a third of its nuclear power stations out of action... Fourteen of France's 19 nuclear power stations are located inland and use river water rather than seawater for cooling. When water temperatures rise, EDF is forced to shut down the reactors to prevent their casings from exceeding 50C."
Plant Shutdown Reignites German Nuclear Controversy. By Geir Moulson, AP, July 6, 2009. "Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-left rivals made it clear Monday they will make nuclear power a major issue in the September national election, following a weekend shutdown at a troubled German nuclear plant. The plant at Kruemmel, near Hamburg, shut down automatically on Saturday following a short-circuit in a transformer. The plant had reopened only last month after a two-year closure that followed a fire in another transformer in 2007. That offered the center-left Social Democrats -- currently the conservative Merkel's partners in a 'grand coalition' of Germany's biggest parties that both hope to end in Sept. 27 elections -- a chance to highlight a key policy difference. The Social Democrats have fiercely defended the decision by Germany's previous government, which they led, to phase out Germany's 17 nuclear power plants by 2021. Merkel's Christian Democratic Union opposes abandoning nuclear energy and wants to extend some reactors' lives."

Two more reasons why Nuke Plants are not a safe power alternative in the USA!
Plug into the sun with solar or go wind power!
Dennis Spisak
Mahoning Valley Green Party
Ohio Green Party
www.ohiogreens.org
www.votespisak.org/thinkgreen/