platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
Just noticed at the bottom of my leccy bill it gives the nuclear waste per kWh of my supply. I am responsible for about half an ounce per year. Probably a couple of gloves and a spec of dust from a fuel rod.
The case against nuclear power - does it stack up?
- Thread starter platinumsage
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elbows
Well-Known Member
I expect you still wouldnt fancy inhaling that 'spec of dust'.
Which reminds me of one of the things that gets on my nerves when some try to quantify the health risks from disasters like Fukushima by only going on about matters in terms of dose of radiation from the environment, comparing such things favourably to x-rays and flying. I think that angle rather ignores those who end up in circumstances where a hot particle enters their body.
Isn’t fusion coming online soon?
weltweit
Well-Known Member
It seems it is always 15 years ahead
It fixes everything. Bit of an overlap though and I think the powers that be are hedging their bets on it.
Isn’t Norway basically run on renewables?
elbows
Well-Known Member
The Norway interconnector that came up earlier is now officially operational:
Full power ahead for UK to Norway under-sea power cable
The 450-mile cable connects Blyth in Northumberland with the Norwegian village of Kvilldal.
www.bbc.co.uk
Its the purple one labelled NSL on graphs from websites like the following one (near bottom of the page). Its been importing steadily at about 0.69GW so far.
National Grid: Live
Shows the live status of Great Britain’s electric power transmission network
grid.iamkate.com
Next time I have something non-nuclear to say about UK electricity, the grid, interconnectors etc then I'll start a different broad thread, unless someone else beats me to it.
A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
If you really want to get into the weeds then the National Grid (EMR) bodies Capacity Market Registers list (almost) every non renewable generator from Drax and the Nukes down to the smallest diesel in a container peaking plant (and a tiny number of non CFD funded renewables that want to play in the CM.
It's updated every couple of weeks normally and goes back years. The T-4 four year ahed (actually nearer three) auctions are the larger more interesting data sets. the T-1 year aheads are much smaller.
Guaranteed insomnia cure. But I find it interesting. The wider site has all the industry facing CM materials and you can also fins some CfD information although more of that is with the Low Carbon Company (LCCC).
www.emrdeliverybody.com
It's updated every couple of weeks normally and goes back years. The T-4 four year ahed (actually nearer three) auctions are the larger more interesting data sets. the T-1 year aheads are much smaller.
Guaranteed insomnia cure. But I find it interesting. The wider site has all the industry facing CM materials and you can also fins some CfD information although more of that is with the Low Carbon Company (LCCC).
EMR Portal - Registers
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A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
I meant to tag you in the CM post above.The Norway interconnector that came up earlier is now officially operational:
Full power ahead for UK to Norway under-sea power cable
The 450-mile cable connects Blyth in Northumberland with the Norwegian village of Kvilldal.www.bbc.co.uk
Its the purple one labelled NSL on graphs from websites like the following one (near bottom of the page). Its been importing steadily at about 0.69GW so far.
National Grid: Live
Shows the live status of Great Britain’s electric power transmission network
Next time I have something non-nuclear to say about UK electricity, the grid, interconnectors etc then I'll start a different broad thread, unless someone else beats me to it.
A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
Other links:
www.emrdeliverybody.com
LCCC Home page. Their data is under resources. I haven't seen if their Portal is working recently
I prefer this real time and historic grid status page to the Grid one. (as do lots of people who work for Grid...) it also has a page for France as well/
www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk
elbows ...
EMR Portal - Registers
LCCC Home page. Their data is under resources. I haven't seen if their Portal is working recently
I prefer this real time and historic grid status page to the Grid one. (as do lots of people who work for Grid...) it also has a page for France as well/
G. B. National Grid status
www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk
elbows ...
elbows
Well-Known Member
I used to use that last one but it hurts my eyes too much these days. Id rather use the one I already mentioned or Drax Electric Insights
Are there any that show frequency for more than the last 60 minutes? Here is one that shows it for the last 60 minutes.
data.nationalgrideso.com
Are there any that show frequency for more than the last 60 minutes? Here is one that shows it for the last 60 minutes.
ESO Data Portal: Live System Information - Dataset| National Grid Electricity System Operator
NoXion
Craicy the Squirrel
Phrases like this aren't at all helpful, because they imply that no progress has been made. Fusion isn't taking any longer to develop into a practical form than solar power took. The photovoltaic effect was discovered all the way back in 1839.
platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
Was just reading this Nuclear power is clean, safe and cheap. We need it to stop global heating
I can possibly see the case for using it in the short to medium term, because at present the alternatives to back up variable renewables are basically fossil fuels. Though I wish we were also talking more about reduction in energy use - lots of space to act there still I think.
I can possibly see the case for using it in the short to medium term, because at present the alternatives to back up variable renewables are basically fossil fuels. Though I wish we were also talking more about reduction in energy use - lots of space to act there still I think.
A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
It’s only for the medium term as we will have fusion in 20 years. Just like we’ve been going to have fusion in 20 years since 1953.
Sasaferrato
Super Refuser!
Fusion, the ultimate 'Are we there yet?'
NoXion
Craicy the Squirrel
Nuclear fusion isn't taking any longer to get going than solar power has. Progress in nuclear fusion has undeniably been made since 1953. I wish people would stop repeating this canard. Note that photovoltaics have had a 100-year head-start over nuclear fusion.
A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
That’s the joke.
With JET being able to maintain a stable burn for as long as they can keep the magnets cool ( just under 8 seconds) and ITER building, maybe we are only 20 years off from Tokamak based plenty. I hope so.
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platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
From the ITER website in 2005:
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Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
The Big Tokamak is always 20 years away, but the rapid development of high-temp superconducters has enabled a whole load of smaller devices. There's now healthy competition (and multiple approaches) between commerical fusion companies. I predict one of them will achieve net power before ITER fuses a single nucleus, and at a considerably lower cost.
The chase for fusion energy
An emerging industry of nuclear-fusion firms promises to have commercial reactors ready in the next decade.
8ball
Decolonise colons!
Without nuclear, and the development of new nuclear technologies, I think we are fucked.
Sasaferrato
Super Refuser!
And still will be 20 years away in 20 years time.
From what I gather (I'm no expert) at the moment the fusion reactions achieved consume more juice than they provide. Hydrogen is the answer.
elbows
Well-Known Member
If people can only imagine success and sustainability as somehow sticking to a world that strongly resembles the "old normal" then there are many ways we can be fucked this century, with or without nuclear. I do not expect the realities of this century to be quite that dull.
8ball
Decolonise colons!
There’s the old adage that people find it easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.
That idea might be getting a good testing soon.
A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
Not quite, the issues are getting the energy out and replacing the chamber walls. Both more engineering than science.
Hydrogen- on Earth- isn’t an energy source. It’s a way of storing and transporting energy- possibly a good one- but the energy still has to be generated, harvested to start with.
8ball
Decolonise colons!
Hydrogen is the answer.
Well, it’s the answer to “what element comprises roughly one ninth of the mass of a water molecule”…
Sasaferrato
Super Refuser!
It is the answer to our energy needs. It is also something that I'm hearing about more and more. Hydrogen powered ships (that really is a biggie in pollution reduction, at present they burn shit that is so turgid it needs to be heated in order to be pumped), hydrogen powered busses and cars.
I've been an advocate of hydrogen for decades, the world is finally listening.
8ball
Decolonise colons!
It is the answer to our energy needs. It is also something that I'm hearing about more and more. Hydrogen powered ships (that really is a biggie in pollution reduction, at present they burn shit that is so turgid it needs to be heated in order to be pumped), hydrogen powered busses and cars.
I've been an advocate of hydrogen for decades, the world is finally listening.
It has… a few uses. It also has some very enthusiastic advocates. The nature of investment hype tends towards single technologies being the answer to everything and I think hydrogen is likely to lose out completely for this reason.
Buses, yes in some cases, I think.
Cars - I would bet heavily against, aside from slightly odd hobbyists producing the fuel in their garden shed.
Ships - I haven’t really looked at the data.
Sasaferrato
Super Refuser!
Nope. California has built IIRC 200 hydrogen filling stations for cars, more to follow.
The glory of hydrogen is that your wind, tidal and solar outputs are never wasted. Excess generation goes into hydrogen production, and the raw material for the hydrogen is cheap and plentiful. At the moment, we have wind turbines being paid to do nothing, when generation exceeds supply, which is ridiculous. Using that power to generate hydrogen is sensible. I do feel that hydrogen and graphene go hand in hand, graphene tanks can hold hydrogen under immense pressure.
If you want an aide memoir about the strength of graphene, to break through a graphene sheet one molecule thick with an object the size of a fine pencil point, you need to balance an elephant on it.
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