|
Post by Azan on Jul 31, 2005 22:02:10 GMT -5
ill post my views in a bit.
|
|
|
Post by Lobstrosity on Jul 31, 2005 22:08:37 GMT -5
Nuclear power all the way! It's a cleaner, more efficient method of energy production. . . that is if you don't count the barrels of toxic waste.
But hey, at least pollution is easier to control if it's in the form of solid radioactive waste! No more smog!
|
|
|
Post by Azan on Jul 31, 2005 22:31:28 GMT -5
I am for it, and what most people dont realize is that nuclear waste isnt that much, and even then the waste is being used for thinks like tank bullets etc. as it is super dense.
|
|
|
Post by Lobstrosity on Jul 31, 2005 23:48:13 GMT -5
can't do that with factory smoke, now can you?
|
|
|
Post by Umbrafire on Aug 1, 2005 11:01:21 GMT -5
nuclear power is efficient, with the only downsides being waste and meltdowns, but as of right now, we dont have any other options, although I read an article on an infinite energy source......i'll post it later
|
|
|
Post by Azan on Aug 1, 2005 11:37:41 GMT -5
Fusion is the so called infinite source (allthough yours may be different) the only problem is that to get it to work you need temperatures of like 10,000+ or something, I just remember reeeealy high, and even then we have only gotten a succesful fusion reaction for about 1.2 seconds.
|
|
|
Post by chica on Aug 1, 2005 19:42:38 GMT -5
idk really cuz I havn't looked into nuclear energy. what about all the pollution it could do? like those barrels and barrels of toxic waste? where would they be dumped? and what are the pros adn cons? give me a list please I know you all can.
|
|
|
Post by Umbrafire on Aug 3, 2005 11:48:26 GMT -5
firstly, the traditional overflowing barrel of goo representing nuclear waste is grossly inaccurate. that is not the product of nuclear power.
secondly, yes azan, I am speaking of fusion, and I read an article that described a way to do it that made some sense, and it's gonna cost like 20 billion dollars, but they're gonna see if it works.
|
|
|
Post by Azan on Aug 3, 2005 12:37:55 GMT -5
Yes there are no barrels of goo and plutonium and uranium is not green glowing liquid, it is a very dense black/brown substance. the waste is when the rods are depleted you have dense material that is slightly radioactive but not enough to be used to heat the water in a nuclear plant to the point to steam, so it is used in armor piercing weapons.
|
|
|
Post by Umbrafire on Aug 3, 2005 17:52:03 GMT -5
yeah, nuclear waste does not look like the ooze from the simpsons, lol
|
|
|
Post by GamerMan on Aug 3, 2005 19:43:33 GMT -5
well there is heat pollution as they have to dump the extreamly hot, and not to mention slightly radioactive, water somewhere, and its almost always into a nearby body of water.
Meltdowns arn't a too real downside, thousands of nuclear plants and only 1 meltdown to date (in teh middle of siberia, where radiation doesn't really matter NE ways).
|
|
|
Post by Azan on Aug 4, 2005 19:38:51 GMT -5
Oh yeah I forgot about the water, it cant be as bad as smog can it? well I guess it can kill fish etc.
|
|
|
Post by GamerMan on Aug 4, 2005 20:22:36 GMT -5
maybe they should further funding of beeming down electricity from space rather than wasting it on fission. it can't be that hard to let a satellite gather electricty, then beem it down using microwave waves. THe only danger is it missing and discharging a huge amount of electicity into the ground, but you can come up with safetys and people watching to make sure the computers are all working.
|
|
|
Post by Azan on Aug 4, 2005 23:12:46 GMT -5
MicroWaves would work great, as our atmosphere blocks so much energy from the sun, if its gathered in space then transfered here it would be cheap and effective, there only the problem of getting the electricity to earth (so enhance funding to find a way )
|
|
|
Post by Lobstrosity on Aug 5, 2005 2:15:32 GMT -5
Yeah okay haven't been able to post in a while, this topic looks to be quite popular.
Okay the nuclear waste is not as big a problem as the heat pollution, but both are probably much bigger problems than meltdowns. Meltdowns are exceedingly rare (as noted before) and there are so many safety precautions in nuclear power plants that in the unlikely event of a meltdown threat, it could be prevented and in the even more unlikely scenario where the meltdown did occur they can keep it from harming people (with barriers and such, not to mention evacuating the people nearby).
The hot water is the bigger problem as it will reduce O2 in the water and kill fish, but there can always be regulations to stop that from happening and it happens with other power sources too.
Toxic waste is another problem but if we can use it for other things that's cool, otherwise we can keep storing it until we can get rid of it ( yeah it doesn't glow green like that when oxidized it is brownish colored and slightly radioactive, but remember radiation isn't such a terrible thing ;D)*
The coolest part of nuclear power is that there is no smog and stuff that gets put in the air ( there are big cooling towers with gases coming out, which is often mistaken for smoke but is actually just steam).
Nuclear fission (the process by which nuclear power works) is actually quite simple. It separates large nuclei (such as uranium or whatever) and uses the energy they release to heat water to spin turbines and generate electricity. There is a radioactive waste bi-product as the nuclei become unstable and deteriorate into smaller and smaller atoms.
Nuclear fusion (the process by which the sun keeps burning) works the opposite way, by superheating small atoms (H) until they fuse together and become larger ones (He) which releases energy I guess. I'm not a believer in the potential of nuclear fusion though, as Jiub is.
Okay that's about all I have to say. My summary: Nuclear Fission owns your soul! w00t!
*for more info on the dangers of gamma radiation please read my gamma radiation awareness thread somewhere in general or maybe welcome.
|
|