Survey: Are You NIMBY about Nukes?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.26.08
When we first wrote about Hyperion's prefab portable hot tub-sized nuclear reactors, we were not convinced, tending to agree with the Los Alamos scientist who said: “This whole idea is loony and not worthy of too much attention.” Yet Matt has written since that Hyperion Power Generation Sells Someone on Portable Nuclear Power and Portable Backyard Nuclear Reactors Ready to be Installed by 2013. So maybe it is not so loony.
Radioactive waste. its bad and its stays around for a very long time. until i have heard of a well tested and OPENLY reviewed method for safely dealing with or using spent nuke fuel i think this stuff is just too dangerous for eveyone. And no i will not just trust some company that say they will take care of it.
Even if you cant make a fission device out of it, you could definitely spread radioactive material around a large area with conventional explosives.
I live in a very earthquake sensitive area. It is simply NOT wise to put a conventional nuclear powerplant in my area. Unconventional earthquake safe plant might be doable. maybe.
I've got no problem with a nuclear reactor buried near or in my backyard, as long as its deep enough no one working on the property will hit it or dig it up by accident.
However, these are manifestly NOT meant for backyards. They produce far more power than a single home needs. They are meant for applications where a large amount of power is needed in a way that is reliable, cheap (over the life of the reactor) and not dependent on the grid. Many of the security issues conjured up by thoughts of "backyard" reactors would be moot in such applications, since a large-scale application, like a military base, a hospital, or a factory could very easily devote the necessary resources to carefully monitor and secure the reactors.
And Hecateus, nuclear power plant containment structure are the most durable structures mankind has ever designed. It would take quite an earthquake to significantly damage one. Japan manages to get more of its power from nuclear than we in the states do, and they plan to increase that substantially. Earthquake-safe plants are hardly unconventional.
By the way, the wording of the question is very suggestive- calling this reactor a "nuke" immediately conjures images of nuclear weapons and not of power plants.
My family has lived within 15 miles of 2 Nuclear power stations all our lives.
No issues with it: No noise, smoke or smell and plentiful power. The look of it is OK too. Never lost one nights sleep.
I'm not typing this with a third hand in my forehead either!
Aren't Americans in enough trouble without this crazy initiative? Please keep it in YOUR backyard!!!!!!!
Anthony, movement of the earth's tectonic plates created the Himalayas. It's amusing to read your contention that an earthquake could not damage a nuclear reactor. Maybe nothing could damage the world's most powerful financial institutions, but reactors are much more vulnerable...
Anthony, movement of the earth's tectonic plates created the Himalayas. It's amusing to read your contention that an earthquake could not damage a nuclear reactor. Maybe nothing could damage the world's most powerful financial institutions, but reactors are much more vulnerable...