Quote:
Originally Posted by renormalised
Actually, Claude, everyone in the know, knew that the design for the Chernobyl power plant's reactors was faulty right from the start. Even the designers of the plant knew it...it was purely a political decision which saw them built in the first place, despite what the engineers advised.
Those 4th generation powerplants are safe...a lot safer than the older style of plants and far safer than coal fired plants. They can't melt down because they're designed not to...the reactor vessels can't get hot enough to melt the uranium in the fuel rods, plus the fuel rods are designed not overheat (due to the design of the fuel pellets). If no one could guarantee the safety of anything just because of its design or what it used, you'd never be driving around in cars. You wouldn't even get out of bed in the morning.
Bet you didn't know that a lot of coal mines are actually loaded with radon gas...yes, radioactive gas. It seeps into the coal seams from the granites which invariably intrude into many of the coal basins. It gets trapped less porous layers of the sedimentary rocks and stays there until it's disturbed. Then you have the effects of all the other gases that seep from coal mines. And the effects of coal dust and silicate particles being breathed into people's lungs. Plus the results of burning the stuff.
Personally, I'd rather see a viable form of power generation via fusion come online as soon as possible, but until then, I'd rather take a chance on nuclear (fission) energy. Being backed up by your usual suspects (wind, solar etc).
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Ahh see the information is there to be found.
Actually I hear sea wave power is very effiecient. I believe there is a large coastal town in Scotland or the UK that recieves nearly all its electricity needs from it.
Australia has alot of coastline!