Re: "Nuclear energy 'not the solution to global warming"

On 28 Mar 2007 10:37:37 -0700, dezakin@xxxxxxx wrote:

On Mar 28, 10:07 am, xnich...@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
On 28 Mar, 17:48, deza...@xxxxxxx wrote:
This isn't desirable when you can produce all your electricity from
nuclear power, and its simply wasteful of coal resources which are
better applied towards synfuel production. You're hard pressed telling
me why Britain and Ireland deserve to burn coal where Shanghai
doesnt.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

For one thing, all of the British nuclear power stations are on the
coast.
So they've recently been shitting themselves over the question of
whether sea-level rises will actually render them inoperative within
less than a century.
(Allegedly not, but check the latest posting on 'Real Climate' on
that, which states that 1 meter sea-level rises are a *possibility* by
2100)

This is still well outside the projected 40-60 year lifespan of
nuclear plants.

Even in the US, generating all electricity from nuclear power would
require a masssive increases in power stations and re-processing of
nuclear fuel.

Reprocessing isn't required for anything. We have enough uranium
avaliable to last for millenia in the once through cycle alone:

http://nuclearinfo.net/Nuclearpower/UraniuamDistribution

With 10^8 tons of uranium and a 1GW plant requiring some 200 tons per
year, thats enough to last global demand some 1000 years on ore grades
that are currently being mined, and recoverable ore grades of 20ppm
and up would last 20000 1GW reactors some 250000 years.

Never going to happen..

http://www.theoildrum.com/story/2006/8/7/195721/3132?page=1

Negative Energy return.. for mining and then subsequent refining,
especially for concentrations below 350ppm.. Additionally, you're
NOT going to be able to recover ALL of the uranium from deposits above
that threshold. Note: That ppm threshold will increase as fossil
fuels become more expensive. Some of it will be left behind to hold
up ceilings/walls and a lot of it will be out of reach, too deep,
underwater, etc.

http://www.theoildrum.com/story/2006/8/7/195721/3132?page=1

Yellow cake 85%U is already in 200$ per kg range and still climbing..

http://www.uxc.com/review/uxc_Prices.aspx
.