Nuclear power plant in Georgia emitting steam from its cooling towers
Letter to the Editor
A late entry for the ‘anti-carbon-cult’ story. Commenting on “It’s negative side is waste storage, although there are plenty of safe places in Australia where you could store the spent, radioactive fuel.” Nuclear does have positive attributes such as 0.022 deaths per TWh compared to 32.72 for brown coal, indicating how toxic hydrocarbons (so-called fossil fuel) can be. But Hydro/Wind/Solar have far less deaths per TWh so it’s not a good metric as Wind etc has far better performance.
(Queensland produces mostly good quality black coal for its power stations and emissions over the past 25 years or more after the installation of highly efficient emission scrubbers have reduced their sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) to safer, low levels. Cairns News research shows the atmosphere is in need of much more carbon dioxide just to maintain current levels of 425.4 ppm and sustain life-Editor)
projected to produce 89 GW
World Energy is a complex topic, and there are alternatives to explore. Isolating nuclear as a one-stop solution is about as infantile as assuming wind and solar farms, even with large batteries, can produce baseload power. Here are some “facts”:
* Nuclear, once operating, is far less toxic than the by-products of burning oil and coal, although features nuclear waste and large ‘fossil fuel’ extraction and refinement costs.
* The world’s largest power stations are all hydro: 8 stations from 8 to 22 GW. Nuclear is way down the scale!
* A single nuclear reactor, typically 1 GW, takes 15 years and costs around $9 billion to build (subject to x3 cost blowouts!), requires 850,000 tonnes of concrete, and 150,000 tonnes of steel. NONE of this is TRIVIAL!
* As a viable alternative, Small Modular Nuclear Reactors are fabricated in the factory although have limited power and higher end costs per energy unit produced.
* There’s already 250,000 tonnes of nuclear waste worldwide, with no solution in sight on how to dispose, apart from sending it all to Australia. Extensively covered in two news reports: Waste & Weapons for Australia: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-09/aukus-radioactive-waste-marles-denies-us-uk-obligation/104184608 . Paul Keating spoke out but was heavily criticized. Also https://kangaroocourtofaustralia.com/2024/07/25/anthony-albanese-and-peter-dutton-go-nuclear-with-their-lies-to-voters/ .
* The consequence here is proliferation of nuclear weapons hardware as well as the world’s dumping ground for nuclear waste. Plenty of places for 250,000 tonnes? Australia is MY back yard, so no thank you.
* As a contrast to a nuclear reactor of 1 GW: The proposed Grand Inga Dam in the Congo is projected to produce 39 GW.
* The Penzhin Tidal Power Plant Project is projected to produce 89 GW, equivalent to 25 nuclear power plants! 40% of Russia’s capacity!
Labor blocks tidal power project in North of Western Australia https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-21/million-dollar-tidal-project-dead-in-the-water-after-decade/102610068
* A smaller bay around Derby in Western Australia has similar tides. Is this viable?
* Australia’s Darwin Solar Park, for the Australia-Asia Power Link, is projected to produce 20 GW.
* World Geothermal is around 20 GW in 2020, projected to be 100 GW by 2050.
* The world’s largest nuclear power station in Japan at just 8 GW (8 1 GW reactors) has been suspended since 2011 due to seismic activity and deliberately falsified data surrounding safety inspections. Never mind the Fukushima disaster!
* A nuclear power station has 3 main pumps. Fukushima meltdown was caused by a seawater breach that disabled these pumps.
* Similarly, a coronal mass ejection from the sun, or an electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear explosion in space, could damage the grid so that diesel-powered generators would eventually run out of fuel, with hundreds of potential meltdowns world-wide.
* Miracle Thorium reactors appear to be a pipe dream, too good to be true. It doesn’t fission without weapons grade uranium or an accelerator, creates less energy, is less economic, and creates a mixed waste stream that is difficult to dispose of. Do we have 50 years to wait for this to come on line?
* Tidal Energy Converters (TECs) are under-water wind turbines that produce ultra-reliable power, due to a satellite called the moon! Unlike intermittent wind turbines. Limited capacity, however.
* Dynamic Tidal Power with a 30km causeway, in contrast, has VAST potential at a developmental stage. Imagine dozens of hydro technology points, a very mature technology, along the length of the causeway!
* Australia’s Regional Hydrogen Hubs program, investing over half a billion dollars to build electrolyser hubs at key locations like Pilbara, Kwinana, Gladstone, Townsville, Bell Bay, Port Bonython, and the Hunter. This is projected to generate $50 billion in additional GDP by 2050. (Most green hydrogen plants have been closed in recent times due to difficulties with production)
* There’s an estimated 10 trillion tonnes of Natural Hydrogen (also termed White or Gold) underground! As opposed to Gray, Blue, Green and Orange hydrogen. Although Aquifiers MUST be protected from over-exploitation.
* Zero-point energy aside, magnetics may yet revolutionise the way energy is produced, as well as gravity.
There are extensive references for all this information, but will have no effect if done alone. Not sure if you’re convinced, but with your support the topic of magnetics can be introduced on this forum, with massive potential.
From George Neo, NSW
