Nuclear power station location - an idea
Discussion
hedgefinder said:
I would vote for somewhere on the banks of the thames...
I would lay odds on that one would never be built within a thousand miles of central london though......
I think you'll struggle to find anywhere in the UK that isn't within 1000 miles of London though, so they probably will.I would lay odds on that one would never be built within a thousand miles of central london though......
dudleybloke said:
Stick one inside the old battersea power station.
Too late, as that location is already being redeveloped, although a previous suggestion wasn't a million miles away!!Although we still need to think of nuclear as a viable power source - yes, the ecomentalists won't like it, but it seems sensible to me to have a the core component of energy generation, supplemented by renewables. After all, we have to consider what we do when renewable energy runs out!! (if you listen to a UKIP candidate that is).
john2443 said:
ShiningWit said:
Build it in Eastern Europe, there can't be anyone left there now can there?
But, who would build it if there's no one there? We'd have to send a load of Polish builders over there to do it! 
Fastchas said:
This is a good move IMO.
Listened to a report on the radio last night. We are getting £757m for our 40% stake in Eurostar.
Profits from Eurostar earn the UK £20m per annum. Much better to sell it off and use the money getting the deficit down. It would take nearly 40 years for Eurostar to earn the taxpayer that much money.
The person buying it obviously thinks its a good deal. So it take 40 years to pay off, proabbly like most people's mortgages. However after that it will continue to generate revenue. A bit like the Dartford crossing, that was paid off years ago and generates revenue albeit not for the UK.Listened to a report on the radio last night. We are getting £757m for our 40% stake in Eurostar.
Profits from Eurostar earn the UK £20m per annum. Much better to sell it off and use the money getting the deficit down. It would take nearly 40 years for Eurostar to earn the taxpayer that much money.
grumbledoak said:
Underground is a bad place for them, in an emergency you probably want water to flow through them not flood them. And you don't really want to seal them in once done anyway. And the modern designs don't create the waste that old ones did (Sellafield imports it AFAIK).
We have tons of coastline that isn't about to announce a series of tedious independence referendums until they get the answer they want. Almost any one of them would do - let's put tidal power where that will work best, nuclear on the rest. Then the Russians and the Arabs can go f**k themselves. Done.
Maybe not the Russians. Uranium ore needs to be dug out of the ground from somewhere to fuel these power stations. We have tons of coastline that isn't about to announce a series of tedious independence referendums until they get the answer they want. Almost any one of them would do - let's put tidal power where that will work best, nuclear on the rest. Then the Russians and the Arabs can go f**k themselves. Done.
For anyone interested in scary 1950's UK attitudes and methods towards dangerous nuclear affairs, I recommend reading/googling a bit about Dounreay shaft and silo.
In short, a 200 foot shaft was dug into the soil on the Dounreay site in the early 50's and into it they tipped nuclear waste, fissile material, plutonium, contaminated equipment, clothes, gloves, boots... You name it. There was even evidence that old paint tins were used to store waste from the reactor before being thrown into the pit.
Naturally the nuclear cocktail exploded in 1977, blowing the huge concrete hatch off the top and destroying nearby buildings.
The repeated multi-million pound attempts to clean it up or work out what to do with nearly 200ft with of piled high nuclear waste that is sitting in a non-lined soil hole in the ground and leaking everywhere is both terrifying and interesting.
Oh, and they installed a pipe out into the sea so waste reactor water could flow out. Members of the public have found parts of fuel rods on the nearby beach. I s
t you not.
I dislike this Monbiot chap quite a bit but his article kind of sums up the issues:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/sep/...
Some photos of the waste pile and diagrams here:
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-isla...
In short, a 200 foot shaft was dug into the soil on the Dounreay site in the early 50's and into it they tipped nuclear waste, fissile material, plutonium, contaminated equipment, clothes, gloves, boots... You name it. There was even evidence that old paint tins were used to store waste from the reactor before being thrown into the pit.
Naturally the nuclear cocktail exploded in 1977, blowing the huge concrete hatch off the top and destroying nearby buildings.
The repeated multi-million pound attempts to clean it up or work out what to do with nearly 200ft with of piled high nuclear waste that is sitting in a non-lined soil hole in the ground and leaking everywhere is both terrifying and interesting.
Oh, and they installed a pipe out into the sea so waste reactor water could flow out. Members of the public have found parts of fuel rods on the nearby beach. I s
t you not.I dislike this Monbiot chap quite a bit but his article kind of sums up the issues:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/sep/...
Some photos of the waste pile and diagrams here:
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-isla...
well you could do like the Japanese, first find a coastline (need water), build it close to a very active area of teutonic plate movement, hope there is no earthquake and resulting tsunami for the next 125years, make sure though the sea wall height is increased a bit to protect it.
Secretly wish for a massive earthquake and it will almost certainly get washed into the sea and there is no need for decommissioning! saves a fortune!
Secretly wish for a massive earthquake and it will almost certainly get washed into the sea and there is no need for decommissioning! saves a fortune!
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