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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sam who wrote (62694)	5/1/2008 7:54:32 AM
From: Lane3	Respond to of 541809

Some reasons why nuclear plants aren't a good idea There are problems with all sources, aren't there? Isn't the choice about the cheapest cost and the "least worst" side effects? I'd love to see a matrix, a nice, tidy matrix. All these articles about this and that make my teeth hurt.

To: Sam who wrote (62694)	5/1/2008 3:40:15 PM
From: TimF	Respond to of 541809

The only real issues raised in those links are cost and time. As for cost, solar, and wind power are generally more expensive , esp. when you consider they aren't as steady of power producers. While construction of nuclear power plants is not cheap, even when considering the amount of electricity they produce, there are several factors which mitigate the extent that this is a problem. Unlike fossil fuel plants (which are generally cheaper to build), you have very low ongoing fuel costs, and also much less pollution (yes there is nuclear waste, but that isn't nearly as extensive of pollution problem as building dozens of new coal plants. Unlike solar and wind you have high density (a lot of power produced for the amount of space the plant takes up), and 24/7 power production. Also solar and wind are expensive to build compared to the total amount of power produced. And new plant nuclear plant designs appear to be both safer and more cost effective. As for lead time, any major new plant will have a fairly long lead time. Nuclear might be a bit longer, but that doesn't mean nuclear plants aren't a good idea, or are not useful as part of the answer of how to keep up with growing electrical power demand.