Interesting survey results..and look what Gordon said.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Although I suppose the antis will be saying 'well they would say that, wouldn't they?'

However it does suggest that people living near power stations would be unlikely to ppose new ones on the same sites., which is encouraging.

From: http://89.151.116.69/NP-UK_opinion_swinging_towards_nuclear-2506087.htmlUK opinion swinging towards nuclear

25 June 2008

Over half of the respondents to a new public opinion survey feel that the UK should increase its nuclear capacity ? and those living closest to existing nuclear plants are most strongly in favour of new nuclear.

The survey of 1100 people, carried out on behalf of Utility Week magazine and management consulting company Accenture in April 2008, found that support for nuclear in the UK has increased by 30% over the last five years. Some 88% of the respondents agreed it is important that the UK reduce its reliance on power generated from fossil fuels, with

33% wanting to do this by increasing use of nuclear power. While 85% of respondents would like to see the UK increase the use of renewables, only 25% thought that renewables alone could fill the gap in reducing the country's reliance on fossil-fuelled generated power.

The survey also found that over half of the respondents felt generally that the UK should increase its nuclear generating capacity. Attitudes were most positive amongst those already living near nuclear power plants. (Nuclear power plant employees were excluded from the survey.)

When asked who they would most trust most to deliver safe new nuclear power plants,61% said they would trust UK-led consortia, while 7% opted for nuclear consortia with foreign leadership. 31% said they trusted no-one.

Radioactive waste handling and plant safety were highlighted as recurring reasons against nuclear growth cited by respondents. However, the survey found respondents were slightly more concerned about rising carbon dioxide levels over the next 20 years than they were about nuclear waste.

The UK has recently embarked on a program to pursue nuclear new build, and prime minister Gordon Brown recently told an oil producers' summit in Saudi Arabia that the *UK is committed to the "biggest expansion of nuclear power in Europe."* It has also embarked on a program to build a geological disposal facility for the country's higher level nuclear wastes, and has invited communities to register their interest as potential sites.

[Bob Mannix]

Indeed. It showa an increasing maturity of opinion amongst the public, that, while renewables are very important (85%), they won't fill the gap and we need nuclear, and that the operation of nuclear plants is not the problem but waste disposal, and it is a problem to be solved rather than shied away from. Perhaps we can move forward to a future where society doesn't actually break down?...

[The Natural Philosopher]

reading thorogh the rest of that site, and links, its pretty clear that apart from Germany, which actually has anti nuclear legislation that needs repealing, and the USA, which although it has the technology it doesn't seem to feel the need to use it, the rest of the world cannot wait to get lots of lovely nuclear energy going.

Looks like *the* growth industry for the next 50 years anyway.

[Roland Perry]

In message , at 13:07:05 on Tue, 8 Jul 2008, The Natural Philosopher remarked:

Nuclear is banned in Italy too.

[Jules]

Although I think it's over 20% of the US's energy is nuclear-derived now, and I've heard *lots* of talk about building new plants - so I'm not sure about that site's info (I've not read through it yet myself)

Oddly enough, when I was in the UK I often heard people say that the US was very anti-nuclear. Now I've moved across the pond, it seems that isn't really true; US folk are no more or less against nuclear power than people in the UK (but there has in the past probably been less of a push for it in the US due to ample other resources)

Agreed. Likely a very wise investment right now... (that and Japanese car manufacturers)

cheers

Jules

[EricP]

With the cost of storage why has no one considered the possibility of dumping it in the Sun. That would absorb all we have and the whole Earth without even noticing it.

There must be a point of viability for this?

[Rod]

This has been thought of. Many times. Would you wish the launchpad for this to be in your backyard? (If it were to go wrong the consequences could be significant.)

[Cerberus .]

The transportation costs would be 'out of this world' too. ;-)

Don.

[The Medway Handyman]

To be sure, the rocket would melt before it got there...

[The Natural Philosopher]

Actually the spent fuel is potentially very valuable..you want to store it where you can get at it when you need some more plutonium.

[The Natural Philosopher]

That doesn't really matter. As long as it ends up in the sun.

however drilling a hole through to the earths core and dumping it there so it migrates to the center of the earth, is more practical.

[Derek Geldard]

OK, send it to China. :-)

Derek

[Huge]

Because a proportion of rocket launches fail. Catastrophically.

Dumping it into a subduction zone would be better.

[Andy Hall]

Not if they went at night.

[The Medway Handyman]

:-)

Glad someone was paying attention :-)

[PCPaul]

What a waste. Stick it somewhere nobody wants (Scotland?) and leave it there until we finally get a working fusion reactor, then chuck it all in and turn it into lead or any of the other base metals which we are going to run out of useful stocks of at about the same time as we run out of oil...

[Paul Leyland]

Two reasons, at least.

First, almost every other form of industrial waste is the raw material for some other industry, if not now then later. For instance, Marmite is industrial waste. Another example: the heavy metal mine tailings of one generation are ore for subsequent and more efficient miners.

Second, if you really want to get rid of it, it is much easier (i.e. cheaper) to sling it out of the solar system than it is to dump it in the Sun.

Paul

[unopened]

Much nuclear waste is not actually waste at all. The problem is that reprocessing it concentrates and extracts the materials that can be used to make nuclear bombs, and in the interests of preventing proliferation, using such material as fuel has not been put to practical purpose yet.

There isn't that much uranium suitable for current reactor technology about in any case (current light-water reactors use U-235, which makes up less than 1% of natural uranium. This is concentrated (enriched) slightly for reactor use, but the rest is just thrown away as waste). There's probably a few 10s of years supply at current rates of use (current estimates are 100 years), so at some point in the near future, looking at other fuel cycles will become a necessity, and the proliferation problems will have to be solved. Personally, I'd far prefer to see plutonium reactors being used to generate electricity (and more plutonium fuel from uranium) than stockpiles of nuclear waste that can't be reprocessed due to proliferation fears. Look up MOX fuel and breeder reactors in general for more details. The work going on in India on thorium cycle reactors is also interesting.

Other people have commented on the impracticality of disposing of nuclear waste in the Sun. Apart from the risks of rocket launches (about 1 in a 100 fail, give or take an order of magnitude), orbital mechanics shows just how expensive in energy such a method would be. Burning it up in a fast breeder reactor is a better way to go - you'll even get energy as payback.

All of the above is a bit off topic. D-I-Y and nuclear engineering are not very compatible. Look up the 'radioactive boy scout'.

Regards,

Sid

[The Natural Philosopher]

And tastes like it.

Send it to the aliens.

[The Natural Philosopher]

But some of the pebble bed reactors look small enough ad safe enough that one could cosnider installing them on a per household basis one day ;-)

Make great CHP sets they would..gas turbine generates the sparks, and loads of waste heat for yer swimming pools and saunas....