H/T Dad 29
Energy is National Security. These clowns have been talking out of both sides of their mouths for decades. They claim they want clean (carbon-free) energy, but kill the largest source.
Spent nuclear fuel can be safely reprocessed. Japan and (surprise) France have been doing it for years. The US had a completed reprocessing plant ready for operation in 1980 and then-President Jimmy Carter, in his infinite wisdom, closed it by executive order. "Nookyer Periferation" (and they said Bush sounded like an idiot). Very little of the fuel is actually used in a fuel assembly. Not only that, but other fissile isotopes are created (the feared and evil Plutonium main among them). By reprocessing, the longest lived (and less hazardous) isotopes are taken from the waste stream, while the shorter are allowed to decay away. Relatively little remains for disposal.
This is an end-run to prevent licensing of new reactors currently before NRC. While the Left thought they saw insidiousness in the Bush administration, this is what it really looks like. Destroy the wealth, destroy energy security, destroy the nation.
2 comments:
You are mistaken. Closing down Yucca Mountain is a completely separate issue from licensing new nuke plants. We've managed to operate numerous nuclear power plants for several decades in this country without regularly shipping the waste across the country on our nation's crappy rail infrastructure. From a security standpoint, it's an enormous risk to start making those shipments in a post-911 world.
Numerous left-leaning organizations (including some enviros and public power orgs) are advocating building some new nuclear plants. I suspect the Obama administration will listen.
This "Obama is anti-nuke" hysteria is being driven by some of the same sources who broadcast the "Obama is going to take your guns away" myth. At least that myth helped stimulate the economy, since so many gullible rednecks ran to Wal-Mart to purchase guns before the inauguration.
I'm pretty sure I'm not wrong. And the issues are not separate. The only reason NRC restarted the licensing process was the prospect of long-term storage. I believe this is a stealth attempt to kill nuclear.
For info on spent fuel transport, read here: http://www.ocrwm.doe.gov/ymp/sr/snf_trans.pdf
And see here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2257476932172725496
But you and I will disagree on this and I'm ok with it. Time will tell.
BTW, my hunting friends tell me ammo is in extremely short supply and very expensive.
And just because Rednecks talk slow, it don't mean they're stupid.
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