Nuclear Power in Australia

[QuantumJG]

I was reading the Age and the topic of Australia going nuclear.

Anyway since I love my physics especially nuclear, I am inclined to say Australia should go nuclear. The fact is people don't realise how useful it is. Efficiencywise if you looked at power/mass nuclear power uses very little nuclear material to get the same power a coal power would give and this would be significantly more coal compared to nuclear material. Technically nuclear power is considered renewable, since, the globe uses a tiny fraction of the globe's nuclear resources. The carbon emissions for nuclear is much less than that of coal.

When people hear nuclear it immediately puts in their minds Chernobyl or nuclear bombs. The fact is Chernobyl was a very badly engineered plant that if it were constructed here it would be decomissioned straight away. Nuclear bombs use either plutonium or high grade U-235 (90%+ U-235), whilst a power plant would do it's job with a considerably lesser grade U-235.

Anyway what's your view?

[dekoyl]

Coal Ash Is More Radioactive than Nuclear Waste
By burning away all the pesky carbon and other impurities, coal power plants produce heaps of radiation

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=coal-ash-is-more-radioactive-than-nuclear-waste

[Trent]

I agree, Australia should go nuclear!

[QuantumJG]

Coal Ash Is More Radioactive than Nuclear Waste
By burning away all the pesky carbon and other impurities, coal power plants produce heaps of radiation

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=coal-ash-is-more-radioactive-than-nuclear-waste

lol

[samuch]

Coal Ash Is More Radioactive than Nuclear Waste
By burning away all the pesky carbon and other impurities, coal power plants produce heaps of radiation

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=coal-ash-is-more-radioactive-than-nuclear-waste

haha this changed my mind

[kendraaaaa]

It's funny how stories like those rarely get covered on the news (to my knowledge anyway)

[ed_saifa]

I say no. It's too susceptible to terrorist attacks.

[ninwa]

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, I know next to nothing about this topic but ...

What about the radioactive waste or whatever it's called?

[IntoTheNewWorld]

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, I know next to nothing about this topic but ...

What about the radioactive waste or whatever it's called?

We have lots and lots and lots of desert. If somehow that fills up we can ship it to New Zealand.

EDIT: spelling error D:

[kurrymuncher]

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, I know next to nothing about this topic but ...

What about the radioactive waste or whatever it's called?

The waste is sealed in a THICK steel container and buried deep underground, or even in deep ocean trenches.

Efficiencywise

Thats a nice word.  

[QuantumJG]

Efficiencywise

Thats a nice word. 

Efficiencywise isn't a word isn't it? 

[QuantumJG]

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, I know next to nothing about this topic but ...

What about the radioactive waste or whatever it's called?

The amount of radioactive waste you get is minimal and

The waste is sealed in a THICK steel container and buried deep underground, or even in deep ocean trenches.

, but seriously the safeguards that would be taken would ensure that waste is properly disposed of.

If you think about it if we had say 1 operating in every capital state we could use less coal and this would reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

With supplying power to everybody a certain baseload is required and coal and nuclear can provide the power for this, whereas the fluctuations that occur in power usage are controlled by our smaller power providers.

In the end we either stay with coal until it runs out or use nuclear, but, greener power sources as elegant as they look would not suffice our needs. Actually solar power is extremely inefficient and contibutes to greenhouse emissions, since the energy it takes to refine the silicon is huge. Wind power isn't that flash either as the propellers are non-recyclable and must be put in landfill.

[IntoTheNewWorld]

Nuclear fusion = all our problems now and forever solved?

Will such a thing ever be possible?

[Edmund]

http://nuclearinfo.net/

A website put together by the University of Melbourne's School Of Physics. One of the Physics staff was telling me about it just now, and it's a good read...

[xXNovaxX]

What my biggest concern is not about the waste as such, because as other members said we have desert over desert, voer desert (hope desert is the correct type), I don't think in 50 or 100 years time we will have cities sprouting or expanding there.

What is my worry is TERRORISTS. Remember a few months ago when those group managed to get into/up to (can't remember) the army barracks in NSW? And the Chaser Team got somewhere meant to be guarded? And those guys who climbed into the top of the Opera House? Even ignoring THESE, there is the possibility of acts of sabotage, etc. Also I remember during the 2008/09 bushfires, thy almost reached Victorias main coal power plant, and t anotehr seperate incident there was like a landlside or soemtihng which made it in operable/dangerous.

Furthermore we have witnessed earthquakes this year and many otehr years.

My fear is the smallest "thing" or even a LARGE event could cause boom, radiation spreads across Australia. Yes we are much better positioned then developing nations which run power plants, and have not had an issue, but safety within is the issue here, but attacks.

Whereas if a coal plant or something was on fire, it would only be limited to that area.

I'm okay with nuclear power plants, but not in Victoria/in the area where should sometihng happen it wouldn't spread to many houses/urban areas.